Ambition
by Closing Up Shop
Summary: Ash Ketchum's main ambition in life was to carry out his father's selfless legacy and make a name for himself. However, fate decides to throw a wrench in his plans when he receives a Vulpix as white as snow, changing his life forever. (Discontinued)
1. Ambition

_**Author's Note: I don't own Pokemon, the Pokemon franchise is owned by Nintendo/Gamefreak.**_

* * *

 _Dear Delia and Ash,_

 _If you're reading this you've likely received the news that I haven't made it back from my deployment to the Seafoam Islands._

 _I want you to know that I love you and always will, nothing will ever change that. You two have been on my mind constantly._

 _Our family means more to me than anything else in the world. No title, no rank, and no position will ever hold a candle to you._

 _You are the reason why I fought. Your futures are what motivated me to confront Dim Sun and prevent their plans of capturing the legendary birds. I didn't want my family to live in a region dominated by tyrants and live in fear. I can only hope I left behind a Kanto that is safe and that the sacrifices I have made will not be in vain._

 _No matter what nightmares I led my squads into, I held to the promise of embracing my beautiful wife again. Of cradling my infant son in my arms and watching him sleep._

 _I miss watching sunrises while huddled beneath blankets on the porch with you, Delia._

 _I prayed everyday that I would survive this nightmare and return to you._

 _I prayed I would stumble my way through being a father, teach our son what it meant to be a Ketchum. I prayed that one day I'd be hobbling on a cane while grandchildren played tag in our backyard._

 _Yet I still failed you._

 _I'm sorry and there's no words that can describe the regret I have for failing you._

 _I'm a lousy husband to have widowed my wife so young. I promised at the altar I would be with you in sickness and in health and for better or worse. I was supposed to support you and stand by your side._

 _My failures are even worse as a father – I should be there for you, Ash. You deserve a father to guide you as you navigate through life._

 _Take care. Delia, I wish we were married longer and had more sunrises to watch together. Raise our son right, raise him to be the man we both dreamed he would become. Show Ash the love that he deserves, not just as his mother but in my place as his father._

 _Love you always._

Ash Ketchum tucked the letter away in his pocket, unable to read anymore as he felt a lump form in his throat.

He glanced in all directions, staring at the rows of graves before him. After taking a moment to scan the cemetery, his eyes settled on a particular headstone. The boy forced a smile and knelt down in front of the tombstone. He felt his eyes starting to well up with tears as he tried to think of something to say.

A stream of hot tears rolled down his cheeks and fell to the ground. He had visited countless times, and had stood in front of the headstone before, but still the sickening wave of nausea hit him hard.

It was difficult to think about his father, knowing that he would never be able to meet him.

His father was a prodigy, having won the Indigo League tournament by his third year as a trainer. His performance had even been enough to net him an offer from the Elite Four.

It made Ash and many others wonder what might have been had his father hadn't declined the offer in favor of the Pokemon Rangers. He imagined his father would be a seasoned Elite Four member and training him up to prepare him for his own upcoming journey.

Ash rubbed the tears from his eyes and stiffened his jaw. He was too old to be crying. He was ten-years old now, which meant that in three years he would be old enough to become a trainer.

Besides, Ash knew his father wouldn't have had it any other way. His father's sacrifice – his ranger squadron's sacrifice – was not in vain. They kept the Legendary Birds out of Dim Sun's hands even when it cost them their lives.

For that, Ash and the rest of Kanto were grateful.

He supposed sacrifice was what it meant to be a league official, no matter what the capacity.

Even the Pokemon Masters – the champion and Elite Four – were tasked with the responsibility of overseeing the safety of others.

League officials served as the region's leadership. As much as the titles meant, when it really came down to it those leaders were tasked with protecting lives like his father had.

Ash smiled at the thought. He aspired to one day be like his father – not merely by attaining the same level of strength as him, but by serving and protecting others.

His father may have died, but his legacy would not die with him.

* * *

Ash never felt such a strong mixture of emotions bubbling up inside of him.

He rushed over to the window, staring at the silhouette of Professor Oak's laboratory up on the hills.

He had been looking forward to this day ever since he could remember; he was finally going to receive his first Pokemon. The thirteen-year old boy had grown up around Pokemon since his mother was one of Oak's research assistants.

When he wasn't at school in Pallet Town studying Pokemon, Ash soaked up information at Professor Oak's lab. He supposed that his passion for learning about them and spending time with them was genetic.

It was, after all, both of his parents' hobbies even if their love for Pokemon had taken them on different paths.

Professor Oak often let Ash and Gary, his grandson, hold mock battles with some of the Pokemon at the lab. He also let Ash help nurse injured Pokemon back to health, and showed him some that were sent to the lab for analysis. In fact, Oak seemed to enjoy having him there as much as he enjoyed Gary's presence.

Considering that Ash's mother was one of his best assistants, and that she had practically grown up at the lab herself since her parents had been Pokemon researchers themselves, Delia was as much a family member to Oak as his actual family.

Ash figured that his exposure to Pokemon and Pokemon battles from an early age played a factor in his decision to want to become a Pokemon trainer.

He got a thrill from bonding with the Pokemon at the lab and engaging in battles with Professor Oak, even if he now realized that the Professor had been holding back and only used a minuscule amount of the force that had netted him the title of Kanto champion ages ago.

Ash also loved sparring with Gary. The adrenaline rush from the excitement of Pokemon battles was intoxicating to him. He knew it was probably the biggest reason why he had decided he wanted to become a Pokemon Master.

Though he was aware of the difficult work ahead of him, he desired to forge a team from the ground up like the other legendary figures before him – one that would be worthy of mentioning in the history books.

Looking over at his Voltorb alarm clock, he knew he didn't have to wait much longer before he could leave for Professor Oak's lab in hopes of receiving his first Pokemon; although he wasn't sure if that made him calmer, or more anxious.

Ash glanced over at the television screen on his dresser and grinned wildly at the sight of a giant dragon with orange scales twirling through the air like a fighter jet to avoid a barrage of stone shrapnel.

He loved Charizard.

Was there any better Pokemon than a dragon that spewed flames from its mouth, powerful enough to incinerate entire villages?

Each of the three Kanto starters that a trainer could choose from had definitive pros and cons.

Bulbasaur and its subsequent evolutions were masters of trap setting; capable of unleashing a multitude of various spores and toxins on their opponents. They were built for a war of attrition, and wore down their opponents with the many energy draining attacks, toxins, and spores that they could unleash.

Bulbasaur and its evolutions also happened to be the easiest of the starters to raise, since their species weren't usually known for having an aggressive streak. Usually, Bulbasaur were kind, caring, gentle creatures. The only downside to the Bulbasaur line was its lack of offensive firepower. Like most grass types, Bulbasaur and its evolutions lacked the vast movepool that the other starters had.

Squirtle and its evolutions, on the other hand, were defensive powerhouses capable of dishing out barrages of water in retaliation. A mature Squirtle and its evolutions were like tanks, able to practically withstand an explosive blast inside their shells, and then pop back out to fire jets of water capable of cutting through steel.

However, there were some drawbacks to the Squirtle line; Squirtle and its evolutions weren't very agile, being rather slow creatures compared to the other starters. In addition to their lack of speed, Squirtle and its subsequent evolutions had a bit of an attitude.

While they weren't as difficult to deal with as Charmander and its evolutions, the Squirtle line could tend to be a bit unruly especially once they evolved into Wartortle and began to get a taste of their full power. Arrogance often sprung up in Wartortle when they began to realize their own strength, and that arrogance often made it difficult for trainers to command their respect.

Lastly, there was the Charmander species. There wasn't much to say about the Charmander line, because there were few words to describe the fire types. Charmander was the most popular of the Kanto starters, and the most dreaded.

Charmander and its evolutions were offensive powerhouses capable of changing an entire ecosystem with a single blast of flame. In addition to the Charmander line's brute strength and mastery of its element, Charmander and its evolutions were the fastest of the three Kanto starters. Their blend of speed and power made them coveted.

However, the adoration of the fire types often covered up their dangerous flaws. Charmander and its evolutions were among the most arrogant Pokemon on the face of the earth, and many of them tended to be somewhat hyperactive.

Unlike Squirtle or Bulbasaur, Charmander knew their strength from the beginning and their attitudes often reflected the knowledge of their own power. The creatures tended to cause a lot of "training accidents", often severely burning their trainers or worse. Some had even been known to turn on their partners or teammates.

It was imperative for anyone who had a Charmander on their team to set them straight on day one and command their respect. Without that respect, it was almost impossible to keep them under control – and an unruly Charmander was fully capable of killing.

It was difficult for most trainers to choose between the three Kanto starters because they couldn't decide which pros and cons they were willing to live with. Those beginning their journey tended to decide on the spur of the moment.

Fortunately, Ash didn't have to deal with the frustration of having to decide which starter to pick and make that spur of the moment decision. Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur were the Kanto starters for "most trainers".

He was not "most trainers". Knowing the right people made it easy to get your hands on something a little less common.

Much like most of life, connections meant better prospects in the world of Pokemon training and Ash certainly had connections.

As enticing as training a Charizard was, he had something far superior to Charmander waiting for him.

Ash threw his crimson sports coat and crimson baseball cap. The trainer-to-be rushed out of his room and thundered down the steps.

His future starter was waiting for him.

* * *

Ash stepped forward, causing the automatic doors to part and allow him into Professor Oak's lab.

He raised an eyebrow upon entering. Books, papers, and lab equipment littered every counter and table in the room. Several unopened boxes were stacked on the floor while some were ripped open with their contents strewn about.

The place was an unpresentable mess. Considering that Professor Oak generally kept the place tidy, Ash wondered if he had tried to tackle too many projects at the same time and got overwhelmed.

"Professor Oak, could you use a hand?" Ash asked, glancing over at the professor as he dashed around the room tidying up.

"Ash, you've made it!" The professor beamed, smiling at Ash for a moment before returning to his work. He tucked papers into file cabinets, placed books on shelves, and set equipment inside drawers or boxes. "Could you do an old man a favor and take some of those boxes out to the shed out back? Gary's already taken a few back, but as you can see he has hardly made a dent."

Ash nodded. "Which ones do you want me to take?"

"Just the boxes that are sealed, I can take care of the rest of them,"

Ash bent over and scooped up a couple of the boxes. He winced at the weight. "What's in these?" He asked.

"I ordered some Poke Balls for the lab, although I didn't ever dream that they would send this many," Professor Oak said.

"At least you won't have to worry about running out any time soon," Ash remarked.

Professor Oak chuckled. "That's for sure."

"I'll be back in a minute!"

Ash shuffled past Oak's office, through the chemistry lab, and through Oak's personal library before stopping at a door. The trainer-to-be grumbled under his breath as he realized that the door was shut.

He tried to reach for the doorknob, but found it was impossible to turn with the amount of boxes in his hands. Suddenly, the heavy boxes shifted, causing Ash to lose his grip on them.

With a loud thump, they hit the floor and landed on Ash's foot. The raven-haired boy bit his tongue to prevent himself from screaming and clutched his foot.

"Well, look who it is!" The door – the one obstacle blocking his path to the shed outside in the corral – swung open to reveal a familiar face standing in the doorway. "Late as always, I see. Bet you were trying to skip out on all the work."

Ash scowled at the boy, clearly not appreciating his humor given the circumstances. In fact, the last person he wanted to see was Gary, even if Gary was technically his best friend.

The spiky-haired boy always had the worst sense of timing and his idea of humor was irritating during good situations. "Gary," he growled.

Gary paled upon realizing what happened.

"Here, let me help you with those!" Gary exclaimed as he tried to scoop up a couple of the boxes. The boy's eyes bulged as he lifted two of the boxes. "What in the name of Mew did Gramps order, rocks?!"

"Poke Balls," Ash replied, finally recovering enough to pick up the remaining ones.

"Arceus, there's no way in Distortion...these are freaking heavy," Gary complained. "What are we supposed to do with these stupid things anyway?"

Ash pointed to the shed. "We're supposed to take them out to the shed, at least the unopened ones."

Gary groaned. "Fine, let's get this over with."

A few minutes of toil passed as Ash and Gary carried the boxes to the storage shed. Ash wiped a bead of sweat from his brow and let out a sigh of relief, knowing the task was finally over.

"That all of them?" Gary asked.

Ash nodded. "Yeah, Professor Oak said that the rest can be put in his office or in the chem lab."

Gary flashed a manic grin. "Looks like we're almost done and you know what that means! You still going to choose the Pokemon you talked about? You had your heart set on Charmander for a while, you sure you still don't want one?"

Ash grinned. "I'm sure, I did my homework. My Pokemon can do everything a Charizard can once it's fully evolved and there is less risk of aggression."

"Fair enough, but I think the aggression is just part of the fun, right?"

"Until you wind up in a Pokemon Center with severe burns because your Charmander turned on you."

Gary tilted his head. "Touche."

"So you still haven't told me what you're going to choose."

"And ruin the surprise? No thanks! Tell you what, I'll give you a hint! My Pokemon is going to kick your starter's butt halfway across Kanto and is the best Pokemon Gramps has found in years."

Ash rolled his eyes. He swore Gary's arrogance was going to do him in one of these days and what better time than today when they were starting their journeys?

"You know, you still haven't told me if you're going to challenge the league either," Ash added, changing the subject.

Gary snorted. "Hmm, you're asking me if I'm going to wander around the countryside, screw around in the wilderness, and sleep out in the elements just because it's traditional?" The spiky-haired boy sneered.

"You're still going to do it, right?" Ash asked.

"Of course," he admitted, a deviant grin forming on his face. "How else am I going to save up to pay off my school loans and expenses?"

"So it's all about the money to you?" Ash laughed.

Gary waved him off and shook his head. "Of course it's not just about the money!" He exclaimed, taking a defensive tone. "The money is nice and will be a great bonus, but I figured studying Pokemon out in the field beats having to sit through some stuffy loser's lectures about something I could have seen for myself."

He paused for a moment.

"Besides, breaking all of Gramps' records and a couple conference wins will make my resume look amazing – sort of validate just how awesome I am, you know?"

Ash groaned. "You're insufferable."

"Just because you want to downplay your aptitude scores doesn't mean I'm going to do the same. Scoring higher in trainer aptitude and general studies than Gramps did at our age aren't small feats." Gary remarked as he closed up the shed.

Ash shook his head and gave an uncomfortable smile. How often he and Gary discussed their accomplishments was always a point of disagreement between them. They had always been the most talented kids in class, but their reactions to the praise placed on them was received differently.

Ash was allergic to the spotlight, preferring to downplay praises and hype. It wasn't because he lacked confidence, but rather because he simply hated the attention.

Gary was the direct opposite. He adored the spotlight and thrived in it. His ego drove him to improve and Gary used people's perception of him to further his prospects.

There wasn't anything intrinsically wrong with either philosophy, even though Gary's boasting could be aggravating at times. It was simply a topic which he and Gary would have to agree to disagree upon.

Ash reached for the handle of the door and opened it, stepping back into the laboratory. He winced at the sound of an all too familiar screech and hum – Professor Oak was using his vacuum cleaner and Arceus, did he need to get the motor on the thing fixed.

Ash returned to the front of the lab and glanced around. True to his word, Professor Oak apparently hadn't waited for them to return and moved the open boxes himself since they were nowhere to be found.

Noticing their arrival, Professor Oak turned off the vacuum cleaner and it wound down to a faint whine before turning off entirely.

"Ash, Gary, finished already?"

Ash nodded.

"So when do we get our Pokemon, Gramps?" Gary echoed the thoughts Ash hadn't spoken.

While Ash was glad to help Professor Oak in any way possible to tidy up the laboratory – it was the least Ash could do to repay Professor Oak for registering Ash for the Indigo League and using his connections to try to set Ash up with a good starter Pokemon – he still couldn't help but desire to at least see the Poke Ball his starter was contained in.

Professor Oak frowned. "Hold on, don't be so impatient. We need to get this place cleaned up a bit, Gary."

The spiky-haired boy wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead and groaned. "I know, I know, but can you at least tell us when we get our Pokemon?"

"We'll get to that in a minute, Ash's mother is contacting the breeders to have your Pokemon sent over. Until then, we need to get this place looking presentable."

Gary rolled his eyes. "You think we care if the floor has a few more specks of dust?"

Professor Oak took a deep breath, clearly getting frustrated with his grandson. "Just because you two are going to be headed out soon does not mean that there is not going to be other trainers here, Gary."

Ash placed a firm hand on Gary's shoulder. "It shouldn't take too long to help get this place cleaned up," he assured. "Besides, we can kill some time this way."

Gary grumbled a string of complaints under his breath and before letting out a defeated sigh. "Whatever."

"What can we do to help, Professor?" Ash asked, glancing to Professor Oak.

Professor Oak pointed to the vacuum and broom. "I'd appreciate it if you two would clean up the floor. One of you can use the vacuum and one of you can use the broom."

Ash gave a quick thumbs-up before claiming the broom and dustpan. He hated the ear-splitting hum of the vacuum and decided to leave Gary the noisy machine. He supposed Gary would prefer using the vacuum anyway since it technically could get the job done faster.

"I'll sweep one half of the room and you do the other half, sound fair?"

Gary gave a nonchalant shrug. "As long as I get this over with, I don't care how we handle this."

Ash ignored the irritation in Gary's voice and shuffled over to his side of the room to begin sweeping. He winced upon hearing the whine of the vacuum, but ignored the sound as he guided the push broom across the tile floor.

It didn't take much time for either of them to finish their side of the room with both of them finishing within about ten minutes.

"There, done – when do we get our Pokemon, Gramps?" Gary whined, a heavy dose of irritation audible in his voice. He was growing more and more impatient with each completed task.

Ash couldn't really blame him, he was chomping at the bit to see his starter too.

"Patience, Gary." The elder Oak chided, giving Gary an annoyed look.

Gary rolled his eyes and tapped his foot on the floor impatiently, grumbling an inaudible string of complaints under his breath. Most of which, Ash assumed to be profane. Fortunately, it didn't take long for Delia to emerge from the back of the laboratory. Ash smiled at the sight of his mother and gave her a quick nod.

Delia reciprocated the expression with a bright smile of her own.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" she said while fidgeting with a small notebook in the pocket protector of her lab coat – something Ash could only suppose was a list of contacts or the latest notes from a scientific experiment. "I ended up talking a bit longer than I wanted to, but I have your starters."

Ash grinned wildly as Delia reached into the pocket of her lab coat and presented two black orbs in her outstretched hand. Gary followed suit with a grin of his own, eyeing the orbs with avarice. Ash couldn't really blame him after taking a second look at the Poke Balls.

They had not been gifted any mere Poke Ball. The sparkle of the gilded release button, golden ring circling the black exterior of the orb, and crimson halo near the top of the capsule made that point extremely clear.

They were Luxury Balls – which were far pricier than Poke Balls thanks to the regenerative properties given to a Pokemon during stasis. While the stasis of a Luxury Ball didn't feature anywhere near the regenerative properties of a Heal Ball, the stasis state featured in a Luxury Ball helped a Pokemon heal and regain stamina faster.

"It's about time, I thought I'd never get my starter!" Gary exclaimed, eliciting another glare from his grandfather that Gary ignored. "I can't wait to unleash a beatdown on the league! Just try and beat me, you pathetic losers! I can already imagine the headlines in the papers!"

Ash rolled his eyes and gave a snort of contest.

If only Gary was a little more upfront about what he really thought…

"Gary," Delia declared, placing one of the black spheres into his hand.

Gary snatched up the orb and twirled the capsule around on the tip of his finger before flicking it up into the air and snagging it with his right hand. The spiky-haired trainer-to-be rubbed the emblem of fire adorning the front of the Luxury Ball.

Ash shook his head. Always the showoff, no matter the situation.

Delia turned to Ash. "And Ash, I have not forgotten you." She laughed, taking off Ash's hat and ruffling her son's hair before placing the remaining orb in Ash's hand."

Ash grabbed his hat and adjusted it to his liking before setting his gaze upon the Luxury Ball. The iridescent dragon scale emblem furnishing the front of the orb had him in a trance. It was far more beautiful than he could ever have imagined.

He slid his thumb across the sleek surface of the Luxury Ball and the emblem adorning the front of the orb. He could barely believe his eyes – he finally held his starter's Poke Ball in his hand.

"Thanks, Mom," Ash beamed, his eyes glowing with excitement.

"Of course." Delia giggled.

"I believe you'll need these as well," Professor Oak added as he held out a pair of orange tablets to Ash and Gary. "I don't really need to tell you what these are since you are already familiar with the Pokedex and its features."

Ash reached out for one of the devices and ran his thumb across the sleek glass screen of the Pokedex. A smile stretched across his face. The Pokedex was not merely a digital encyclopedia cataloging the world's Pokemon, but a status symbol.

It was the Pokedex that contained one's personal information and registration – quite literally validating that one was in fact a Pokemon trainer.

"Thanks!" Ash and Gary exclaimed in unison.

"Well, aren't you two going to test them out? Your starters are waiting to meet you!" Professor Oak exclaimed.

Ash glanced over at Gary who took Professor Oak's cue and pressed the release button on the front of the Luxury Ball. The capsule expanded before flipping open and releasing bright rays of light. In an instant, an indescribable Pokemon emerged from the Luxury Ball.

The Pokemon – somewhat akin to a Magmar – produced heat and was certainly not what Ash expected to see from Gary. Ash raised an eyebrow and pointed his Pokedex at Gary's starter, causing the scanning mechanism of the device to activate and display a picture of the Pokemon.

 _Magby, the live coal Pokemon – Magby are typically found in volcanic craters, its body is capable of exceeding 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit. Every time it inhales and exhales, embers dribble from its mouth and nostrils._

Ash squinted as he examined the picture of Magby closer. Was he imagining things? Gary's Magby wasn't the same color as the one featured in the data entry.

It took a moment for Ash to process everything, but his eyes bulged once he figured things out. Gary had received a Magby with a different pigmentation – no doubt a request regarding his starter.

Gary quickly scanned Magby as well with his Pokedex, getting the same encyclopedia entry along with the techniques the fire type knew.

"Smog, Ember, Smokescreen, Mach Punch, and Thunder Punch? Not too shabby, you've got quite the arsenal! I'm Gary Oak, a legend in the making and soon-to-be Indigo Conference winner, would you like to join..."

Ash tuned out his friend during his narcissism-fest and his recruitment pitch to his starter, more curious in Magby's moveset. He might not know much about the Magby line, but even Ash knew that Thunder Punch and Mach Punch were not common techniques for fire types.

Generally, such a technique would have to be passed down genetically for a Pokemon to learn it at such a young age, especially Mach Punch. Mach Punch was virtually unheard except in a handful of species.

There was no doubt that Gary's Magby had been acquired from a breeder. It made Ash wonder what type of surprises his starter had.

"Thanks, Gramps, you're the best!" Gary beamed.

"Delia played a huge part in this too, she was the one who sent for your starters." Professor Oak replied, gesturing to his research assistant. "You should thank her as well."

Gary grinned at Delia and nodded. "Thanks, Mrs. Ketchum!"

"You're quite welcome, make our town proud by giving your best."

"You can count on it." Gary declared, turning to leave with his starter in tow. The spiky-haired boy hesitated for a moment and looked back at Ash. "You know what this means, now? We're going to have to see what our starters can do! Try and make your introductions snappy, Ash, I'll be waiting for you outside. My winning streak begins today."

Ash snorted in amusement. "We'll see," he retorted before turning his attention back to the Luxury Ball and Pokedex in his hands.

"So are you going to meet your new Pokemon?" Professor Oak prompted.

The raven-haired trainer turned his hat backwards before sliding his thumb across the surface of the Luxury Ball.

His Dratini awaited him.

Ash pressed the release button on the Luxury Ball, causing it to open. A bright flash of crimson light lit up the entire lab and forced Ash to shield his eyes as a Pokemon – his Dratini – emerged from the orb.

Ash's eyes widened as he eyed the small creature standing in front of him. He honestly had no idea what he was staring at, but Ash was certain of one thing: it definitely wasn't a Dratini,

Instead of the serpent-like Pokemon he had been anticipating, a small fox with fur white as snow and multiple tails stood before him. The fox – a Vulpix in all but color – tilted its head and stared at him with its bright blue eyes.

It took the Pokemon a moment to process its surroundings, but once it did, it let out a playful bark to greet everyone in the room.

Ash wasn't sure whether to be disappointed or confused; although judging by the expression on the faces of his mother and Professor Oak, they were both confused and disappointed.

Professor Oak nodded in agreement. "That is not Dratini," he muttered, addressing the obvious Donphan in the room.

Delia raised an eyebrow. She pulled out a sheet of paper from her pocket and skimmed over its contents. "Would you please hand me the Luxury Ball?" Delia instructed, holding her hand out.

Ash obeyed and set the capsule in his mother's hand for examination. The research assistant examined the orb and shook her head.

Ash could practically see the gears turning in both his mother's and Professor Oak's heads as they pondered the situation at hand.

"That's definitely not right. The Luxury Ball is marked with the symbol for a dragon-type, likely Ash's Dratini. I'm going to have to call."

"Likely just a simple case of mislabeling." Professor Oak remarked. "My cousin must have made a mistake."

"I'm sorry, sweetie, you might have to wait until I can get this sorted out." Delia added, reaching into her pockets for her phone before turning to leave for one of the adjacent rooms.

Ash smiled. "It's okay, it's not your fault. I'm actually curious to know what we did get by mistake. We know this isn't Dratini, so what exactly it it?" Ash asked.

Delia glanced at Professor Oak, hesitating as she stood in the doorway of the chemistry lab. "You don't think this is one of the Alolan forms, do you?"

Professor Oak shrugged – something that Ash wasn't accustomed to since Oak seemed to know everything about Pokemon. "It's possible, but I'm not entirely sure. Given the appearance, however, that's the most logical conclusion."

Ash gave his mother and Professor Oak a perplexed look like they were speaking a foreign language. "Hold on, what's the most logical conclusion?"

"Alolan forms," Professor Oak explained, pointing to the fox-like Pokemon sitting on the floor while it was licking its paws. "The closest thing we have to this Pokemon in Kanto would be Vulpix, but it isn't the right color to be a Vulpix,"

Ash blinked. He was still struggling to comprehend what the professor was talking about.

"My only guess is that we're looking at one of the Alolan forms that my cousin Samson has been telling me about lately. Along with Mega Evolution, regional form changes is one of the subjects that the scientific community has been looking into."

"Alolan forms?" Ash echoed, curious about the new term. "That still doesn't explain anything or what we're looking at."

"It has been noted recently that there are Pokemon native to the Kanto region that have adapted to new climates and habitats. Take Sandshrew for instance – Sandshrew in Alola were forced to adapt to the environment of Alola and as a result of living in the mountains they gained cold tolerance and traits associated with ice types, eventually they actually became ice types," Delia chimed before leaving to make her phone call.

"Interesting, so you're telling me that this could be an Alolan form?"

Professor Oak gave a quick nod. "I'm assuming this is an Alolan Vulpix, but you should be able to scan it with the Pokedex to find out,"

Ash knelt down to the fox's level before pulling out his Pokedex, causing the Pokemon to move closer to the trainer out of curiosity.

Ash chuckled as the fox touched his hand with its icy nose and stared at his Pokedex intently, as if it was trying to figure out what the device did.

The trainer rubbed his hand across the fox's chilly back, eliciting a muffled whine from the fox.

"Hello, my name is Ash Ketchum, and I want to become a Pokemon Master. I'm going to scan you with this device so we can identify your species."

The fox yipped in acknowledgment, gave a quick nod, and posed for the Pokedex – a surprising gesture that not only displayed the fox's intelligence but humanized it.

Ash knew Pokemon were sentient creatures capable of rational thought; but seeing the Vulpix's depth of understanding and use of human-like gestures astounded him.

Ash lifted the Pokedex and pointed the device at the fox, causing the tablet to activate and "speak" in its robotic monotone.

 _Vulpix, the fox Pokemon; Alolan form. Alolan Vulpix can exhale air colder than -58 degrees Fahrenheit. While they are more suited for cold climates, in hot weather Alolan Vulpix can make ice shards with its six tails and spray the ice shards around to cool itself._

 _This Vulpix is female, and knows the attacks Powder Snow, Moonblast, Agility, Freeze-Dry, Disable, and Tail Whip._

 _This Vulpix also has the ability Snow Warning which allows a user to manipulate the weather by creating a blizzard._

Ash whistled at the impressive movepool that Vulpix had, and her powerful ability. She had a very good arsenal that would put some fully evolved ice types to shame.

While he doubted that the young Vulpix had mastery over Snow Warning or her more powerful moves, he was still impressed regardless.

"So Alolan Vulpix became an ice type?" Ash remarked.

"It would appear so," Oak muttered.

"You know some pretty powerful attacks, I wouldn't want to have to battle something like you." Ash laughed, stroking her cold fur some more with his right hand.

Vulpix purred at Ash and lapped his left hand with her tongue.

Believing he gave Vulpix enough attention, he pulled his now soaked hand away only for the ice type to brush up against him and stare at him with pleading eyes.

He smiled at the ice type and broke down, once again stroking the its fur. She purred and rested her head on Ash's leg.

The fox was starting to grow on him due to her intelligence and her friendly disposition. Vulpix had a charming personality that most trainers dreamed about their starters having. Vulpix was not Dratini, but she was everything that he hoped for his Dratini to be.

Vulpix could be the loyal friend one needed when spending so much time alone in the wilderness. It made him wonder. Maybe the starter he desired was standing before him in the form of an Alolan Vulpix.

"How would you like to travel with me and challenge the Indigo League?" Ash offered.

Vulpix purred at the suggestion and licked Ash's hand again, visibly excited about the idea of traveling with him.

"Looks like Samson mislabeled his Pokemon and accidentally sent us an Alolan Vulpix by mistake, he'll send Dratini over when we send Vulpix back."

A sense of melancholy graced the Vulpix's features as she looked up at Ash, dreading the possibility of leaving her new friend. The expression practically killed him.

"No, don't!" Ash blurted out in a panic, prompting confused stares from both Professor Oak and his mother.

"You did want Dratini, didn't you?" Professor Oak asked.

Ash nodded, eliciting a disappointed look from the Alolan Vulpix. "Yes, I did want a Dratini." He began. "I wanted a starter with a calm, friendly demeanor that would be a close friend and companion on my journey. I wanted a starter that was intelligent and would be able to lead our team one day."

He paused momentarily, looking down at the Alolan Vulpix who had somehow wormed his way into his heart. "That's why I could never send Vulpix back."

The ice type's expression shifted instantaneously from one of gloom to glee.

"If it could be arranged, could Vulpix be my first Pokemon?" Ash all but pleaded.

Both Delia and Professor Oak smiled, suddenly understanding Ash's reasoning behind his decision. "I'll call Samson and get everything smoothed out. I'll see to it that you can keep that Vulpix, and see if I can get a proper Poke Ball for her. It would be weird to have an ice type in a Poke Ball labeled for a dragon-type," Delia said.

Ash nodded and tucked his hands into his pockets as he watched his mother return to the chemistry lab to conduct her phone call in quiet.

"Looks like you'll have to wait a while longer, but this gives you a good opportunity to choose a name for your Vulpix should you so choose," Professor Oak said.

Ash nodded and sorted through a list of names in his head.

He found that he couldn't think of very many good names for the Vulpix species, let alone names that fit a Vulpix with a genetic structure that had transformed it into an ice type.

To be entirely honest, he couldn't really think of any good names for a Pokemon at all. Even though he had heard of people naming their Pokemon before, naming one of his Pokemon never occurred to him.

Ash rubbed his chin in thought and frowned. What would he name an ice type? Perhaps, the ice type didn't even want a name. Ash figured the best place to start for finding a nickname for Vulpix was by asking if she even wanted one.

"Vulpix, Professor Oak reminded me that some people name their Pokemon. Would you like a name?" Ash asked, looking down at Vulpix.

The fox looked up at Ash with her bright blue eyes, tilting her head as she took a moment to think.

After a moment's consideration, she purred excitedly and held her head up proudly at the thought of a name. The trainer from Pallet Town lowered his head in resignation and took a deep breath.

"Way to put me on the spot." Ash teased.

The trainer rubbed his chin in thought. He was completely and totally stumped.

He immediately threw out the first few ice related names in his mind that reeked of cliches. Names like Snowy, Snowball, and Frost were the kind of names that a kindergartner would name a family Pokemon.

"How about Glacia?" Ash was pretty sure that there was an Elite Four member somewhere with the name, and he felt that it would also fit a female Alolan Vulpix.

Vulpix tilted her head while she thought about it before responding with a brisk shake of the head.

"Okay, I'll try to think of another one." Ash huffed.

Glancing at the light that sparkled off the ice crystals in Vulpix's fur, a sudden burst of inspiration struck the trainer.

"What do you think of Aurora?"

Vulpix's bright blue eyes sparkled with excitement and she held her head high in a regal manner almost as if to pose. She clearly approved of the name.

"Alright then, Aurora it is!" Ash exclaimed.

As he started to pet the chilly fox's head once more, his mother returned with another Luxury Ball in hand. Ash's heartbeat increased and he felt his palms getting sweaty. His mother's unusually listless expression gave him absolutely no indication on the verdict of whether he would be allowed to keep the Alolan Vulpix.

"Did my cousin say if Ash could keep Vulpix?" Professor Oak asked, beating Ash to the question swirling in his mind.

Delia handed Ash the Luxury Ball in her hand. He examined the orb briefly before settling upon the white snowflake emblem on the front of it.

A smirk formed upon Ash's face.

"Vulpix is yours for the taking and this is a proper ball for an ice type," Delia declared in a cheerful tone.

Ash exchanged what was supposed to be Dratini's ball for Vulpix's – no, Aurora's ball – and clipped the orb onto his belt with the Poke Ball holder attached to his belt. "Thank you, Professor, thanks Mom!"

Ash flung himself at his mother and pulled her closer into a hug.

"Of course, sweetie, this is your big day! We wanted to make sure that you start your journey off right!" Delia replied, reciprocating the gesture for a moment before reaching into the pocket of her lab coat.

Ash pulled away to see what his mother was up to.

Delia placed a watch-like device in the palm of his right hand. His mouth went agape at the sight of the watch.

He could barely believe what he was staring at.

The Pokenav Plus was a watch-like device with an eight inch touchscreen, manufactured by the Devon Corporation to compete with Silph Co's Sitrus Pokegear. The small device allowed trainers to send and receive emails, call, search the web, display maps, and access a multitude of other apps.

Ash had always wanted one, since he figured that the device would prove useful on his journey. However, the Devon Corporation had the Pokenav priced far beyond what he and his mother could afford.

Now that he thought about it, he was also fairly certain that the Devon Corporation didn't have any red Pokenav Plus watches on the market. He remembered looking for one in his favorite color, only to come up empty.

"I can't believe it." Ash gaped, still hardly able to comprehend how his mother could afford the device.

"If you don't like it, I can always take it back." Delia giggled.

Ash snatched the red device out of the bag and strapped it to his left wrist. "No, I love it! Thank you!"

Delia nodded. "I figured if I got you a Pokenav, I could stay in touch with you while you're on your journey and I won't have to wait until you reach a Pokemon Center. It'll help me to worry about you less if I know that you're safe and sound."

Ash felt a lump form in his throat. While he always looked forward to leaving on his journey, he hated the idea of leaving his mother home alone.

"Mom, if you don't want me to go, I can always stay here and study to become..." Ash began, causing Delia to glare at him with fury in her eyes.

Ash flinched and sunk down in his seat, wary of his mother's wrath.

"Don't you even start with that again, young man! I'm not going to let you miss your opportunity to become a Pokemon trainer. You've wanted to become a Pokemon Master your entire life!" Delia scolded.

"Yeah, but being a researcher wouldn't be that bad plus that's sort of what Gary plans..." Ash continued, causing Delia to get even more aggravated.

"Do you know how selfish and how terrible I'd feel if I knew that I kept you from your dream to keep you here?!" Delia scowled, shaking her head. "Children leaving on their journeys is something that all parents must prepare themselves for, and I'm no different. Professor Oak and the other researchers at the lab will help keep me occupied."

Delia smiled. "If your father was here he'd agree with me."

Ash flashed a nervous smile and quickly dropped the argument, knowing that it was one he couldn't win.

He had offered to drop his dream of becoming a Pokemon trainer before in favor of becoming a researcher like his mother, so he wouldn't have to leave her in Pallet Town alone; but she had shot down the offer every time he proposed it.

And it was hard to argue against her point.

Not only did she desire that he follow his goal, but he knew that his father would have encouraged him to pursue his dream as well.

Ash got up from his seat and wrapped his arms around his mother one last time, causing his mother to return the gesture with her own crushing embrace. Ash winced a bit at how tight his mother was squeezing him, but couldn't bring himself to pull away. He knew that it would be a while until he could see his mother in person again.

"Thanks, Mom; for everything."

Delia sniffled slightly as she finally released Ash from her grip and wiped away the moisture in her eyes. "Before I forget, I packed your backpack so you'd have everything you need. It should be enough to get you to Viridian City."

His mother pointed over to the corner of the room.

Ash nodded, unable to find any words because of the emotions swirling inside of him, as he took the backpack. The thirteen-year old reluctantly peered into the bag to find extra sets of clothes, medical supplies, a sleeping bag, his toothbrush and toothpaste, a collapsible fishing rod, Poke Balls, sandwiches, and snacks amongst other things like Pokemon food.

He couldn't help but wonder how his mother even managed to fit as much as she had into his backpack even with the advancements made in distortion-space technology.

"Be safe out there, Ashy, I don't want you to do anything reckless. Make sure that you take good care of your Pokemon, make sure you feed yourself, be respectful, and drink plenty of water so you don't get dehydrated!" Delia rambled on completing her mental checklist.

"I promise to do my best to stay out of trouble, I will be on my best behavior, and I promise to take care of myself." Ash chuckled.

"Okay, I'll have to hold you to that," Delia said as she rubbed the moisture from her eyes again and averted her gaze from Ash.

"Is there anything you'd like to add, Professor?" she added, hoping to take attention off herself so she could regain her composure.

Professor Oak placed a firm hand on Ash's shoulder. "Stay safe out there," he advised in a for more sober tone than usual. "Don't do anything I would do, and definitely don't do anything that I wouldn't do."

Professor Oak flashed a grin at his attempt at humor. "And above all, enjoy yourself and have fun. Traveling and exploration means far more than the accolades."

"We will," Ash said, glancing to Aurora.

Delia knelt down and rubbed Aurora's neck, causing the ice type to tilt her head and let out a faint whimper. "Take care of my Ashy for me, okay," she teased, eliciting a cheery yip from Aurora.

"We better not keep you much longer, Gary's waiting for you, is he not?" Professor Oak said.

Ash nodded as he turned for the exit and motioned for Aurora to follow him. He stopped in the doorway and gave one last look to his mother and Professor Oak. "Thank you," he mouthed before walking out the door and focusing on the path ahead.

Gary was waiting for him.

* * *

Ash groaned and pinched his forehead. His patience had just about run out.

Couldn't Gary have told him where to meet him?

He had searched all of Pallet Town and Gary was still nowhere to be found. He checked their houses, he checked all of their popular hangouts, and the central square.

He expected Gary to be waiting outside the lab or at least at the end of the sidewalk. Unfortunately, that hadn't been the case which forced him to wander about Pallet Town in search of his rival.

He supposed he hadn't checked the outskirts of the city yet. Since he had already checked the rest of Pallet Town, that was the only place his rival could be.

Ash grumbled under his breath, cursing his best friend.

 _I'm definitely kicking Gary's..._

"Ash!" A familiar nasally voice called out. "About time you showed up! I was starting to think you were ducking me."

Ash gritted his teeth. "Wouldn't dream of it," he said tersely.

"Wouldn't blame you for trying to avoid me, it's pretty daunting to face someone of my caliber."

Ash didn't bother with a reply. He was hardly in the mood for Gary's narcissism at the moment, especially after having jogged almost all of Pallet Town and covered a mile of ground to reach the edge of town.

"You should have known I would be waiting for you here, Ashy-boy!" Gary exclaimed, gesturing to the meadows surrounding them and to the bubbling stream on the side of the road. "You haven't forgotten already, have you?"

Ash took one glimpse at the stream and a wave of nostalgia swept over him.

"How could I forget?" Ash muttered under his breath.

He would never forget Route 1 or the small stream where he used to go fishing. It was at Route 1 that his friendship with Gary became a rivalry.

In hindsight, his quarrel with Gary was completely stupid – the Poke Ball they fished up from the river was rusted and useless. Both trainers would admit they overreacted and let their competitive spirits get the best of them.

At the time, however, the Poke Ball was a prize that rightfully belonged to them and neither would relinquish their right to it. In the end, their quarrel had no true winner since the Poke Ball had snapped in half resulting in them keeping their half of it.

Though their conflict was settled long ago, a lone truth remained from the confrontation: They were on a collision course from their birth.

They were not just peers because they were the same age, but rather because they were equals and two sides of the same coin – their broken half of the Poke Ball served as a reminder of that fact. He and Gary were prodigies with similar aspirations that were fighting for the same prize – winning the Indigo League.

Their end goals, reasoning, and mindsets differed, but their base motivations were the same and their paths to reach their end goals were intertwined.

And to think that realization came to them at this very spot...

Ash smirked – Gary had made the right decision. There was no better place for them to hold their first battle as trainers.

Gary reached for the Luxury Ball clipped to his belt. "Get ready, Ashy-boy! You're gonna be feeling the heat!" he exclaimed before sending out his Magby.

The fire type danced around, jabbing at the air a few times with its stubby arms like a showboating prizefighter. However, it wasn't Magby's swagger that caught Ash's attention; but rather the intuitive look in Magby's eyes as it scanned its surroundings while it loosened up, subtly examining every square inch of terrain.

Magby was every bit as much analytical thinker as fighter, and that was to be feared more than any physicality. Fortunately, he had a thinker of his own.

Ash followed Gary's lead and reached for the Luxury Ball clipped to his belt – he made sure to keep Aurora in her ball to make his starter a surprise.

His mind was racing, his heart was pounding in his chest, and it was taking every ounce of discipline to remain calm with the spike of adrenaline pumping through his veins. Ash couldn't wait for the battle to begin.

"I'm going to give you one last chance to back out now while you still can, Ashy-boy!" Gary declared in a scornful sing-song voice. "There's no way that Dratini of yours can beat my Magby!"

Ash ignored Gary's verbal jabs and reached for the brim of his red baseball cap to turn it backwards before pressing the release button on Aurora's Luxury Ball.

Gary chuckled. "As silent as ever, Ashy-boy," he remarked. "Let's see if that stoic persona can hold up when my Magby overwhelms you."

Ash didn't bother with a reply and tossed Aurora's Luxury Ball into the air with a flick of his wrist. In an instant the capsule opened, and a Vulpix with fur as white as snow emerged onto the battlefield.

The ice type's examined her surroundings, taking a moment process every sight, smell, and sound around her. Her bright blue eyes fixated on Magby and she trembled with excitement.

She turned for a moment and greeted her trainer with a bark exuding the utmost confidence.

Gary frowned. "Hey, what gives, that's definitely not Dratini!"

Ash nodded. "No, she's definitely not – she's better," he stated with a smug grin, eliciting a yip from Aurora in agreement.

It took a second or so for Gary to compose himself again, but once he did, his trademark arrogance rose up again.

"We'll just see about that!" Gary exclaimed, pointing his Pokedex at Aurora to perform a quick scan of her for additional information about her species. A smug grin formed on Gary's face. "You really don't understand much about type advantages, an ice type like yours is at a direct disadvantage against a fire type like Magby!"

Ash snorted. "We'll see," he said, gesturing towards Magby. "Aurora, Powder Snow!"

"Magby, Ember!" Gary countered.

Bitter cold air and wisps of snow poured from Aurora's mouth and collided with a glowing cloud of hot ash. A loud hiss echoed through the air as a thick blanket of steam filled the air.

"Ember!" Gary repeated.

The haze swirled about for a few moments before splitting apart as another plume of scorching flames shot out of the cloud of steam, forcing Aurora on the defensive.

The Alolan Vulpix zigged and zagged in a desperate attempt to avoid the oncoming barrage of burning ash and wisps of fire.

"Agility," Ash stated, remaining calm despite his heart skipping a beat from the excitement of battle. They needed to take some of the heat off – quite literally – and force Magby on the defensive.

Aurora rushed forward channeling a short surge of adrenaline through her body as she ran through the incoming flames.

"Keep up the pressure!" Gary exclaimed.

Magby obeyed and promptly inhaled to draw as much air into its lungs as possible before spewing out several more plumes of fire aimed for Aurora.

There was just one issue with Gary's counter – all of Magby's fiery breaths were missing. Aurora's speed made her a second faster than Magby's barrage.

"Tail Whip," Ash mouthed, speaking at a mere whisper to avoid letting Gary catch on.

Closing in on her foe, Aurora twirled through the air to slap Magby in the face with her tails. The Alolan Vulpix winced from the immense body heat radiating from her opponent's body.

Though her strike had staggered her opponent, Aurora had not escaped contact with Magby unscathed, paying for her brave strike with singed tails. Shrugging off the burning sensation, Aurora fired off a weak Powder Snow aimed for Magby's face.

"Flare up!" Gary shouted.

Ash winced and felt his forehead sweat from the growing heat. Glowing flames cloaked Magby in an ominous shade of orange and red for a moment. The heat and light were extinguished as the chilly gusts clashed with the intense flames, but they served their purpose.

A thick cloud of steam obscured the entire battlefield.

Ash cursed under his breath. Gary was thinking several steps ahead the entire time, planning everything out like a chess match. Two could play at that game.

"Stay observant, Aurora!" he warned, pausing for a moment and lowering his voice to a near whisper. "And use your nose to locate Magby."

The ice type growled and tensed up, lifting her nose to the air in an attempt to locate the fire type with her keen sense of smell. Unfortunately, the saying about best laid plans came to fruition once more.

"Smokescreen!"

An inky, black smog filled the air and mingled with the steam not only making the air hazier but adding an acrimonious quality to the air.

Ash and Aurora wheezed violently from taking in a single breath of the smog. The trainer gritted his teeth, knowing his plan was foiled. There was no way the fire type could be located by scent when the air was inundated with smoke.

A nasally voice echoed from afar. "Mach Punch!"

The blanket of smog parted as Magby sprung forward from the haze, catching Aurora off guard. A quick jab to the face sent the Alolan Vulpix skidding backwards, tumbling across the ground.

"Mach Punch, again!" Gary shouted. Momentum was shifting rapidly in his favor.

Magby lunged at Aurora, throwing a series of wild punches at the ice type.

Aurora channeled another surge of adrenaline through her body, increasing her speed to sidestep Magby's blows.

The first jab didn't even come close to Aurora and the punch missed wide to the left. The second haymaker, an overcorrection on Magby's part, missed wide to the right. The third punch was a bit closer compared to the first two punches, but still ended up missing Aurora completely.

"Ember, right," Gary said, almost matter-of-factly.

His starter spewed a weak gout of fire from its maw, forcing Aurora to dart to her left. Gary smirked as he shouted his command from before. "Mach Punch!"

Magby lunged at its foe, forcing Aurora to make an abrupt turn. The Alolan Vulpix darted back to her right, tripping in the process.

Ash gritted his teeth. The stumble was the opening Magby needed – its right hook connected with Aurora's front shoulder and flung her backwards.

The fox winced and favored her injured left shoulder, clearly shaken up from the blow.

"Hang in there, Aurora!" Ash exclaimed. He whispered his next instruction. "Just a little bit longer, we need to draw Magby in."

He subtly gestured to the bank of the river, causing Aurora to give him a nod of acknowledgment of the plan.

Ash gritted his teeth as Magby prepped another right hook and rushed towards Aurora. He could see signs of fatigue on Aurora's features, but she refused to go down without a fight.

 _Good, we're on the same page._

"Finish this with Mach Punch!" Gary repeated, sensing victory was in his grasp.

Ash clenched his teeth. He had one last ace in the hole. "Disable, slow down Magby, then use Moonblast!" Ash countered.

Magby barreled ahead and threw one last haymaker aimed for Aurora's head.

Aurora forced herself onto her feet and growled, giving Magby a defiant glare as the fire type threw a left hook. Channeling her inner telekinetic abilities, as weak as they were, the Alolan Vulpix trapped Magby in a telekinetic prison for a split second to throw off the fire type's timing.

Aurora leaned to the side, narrowly avoiding her foe's potential finishing blow.

Using Magby's forward momentum against it, Aurora positioned herself behind the fire type as she channeled all her remaining strength into her mouth to form a small, shimmering sphere of light.

Aurora fired the sphere of energy into Magby's back, but not before collapsing to the ground from total exhaustion. Despite the small size of the pink sphere, the resulting burst of energy hurled Magby through the air and landed the fire type in the river behind it.

The water hissed, bubbled, and turned to vapors as Magby landed with a loud splash. If the fire type had still been conscious after taking a Moonblast to the back, the shock from the cold water had certainly knocked it out.

Gary frantically reached for his Luxury Ball to return the fire type before the current could carry Magby away.

Ash grimaced as the adrenaline started to wear off. He took a quick glance at the Aurora lying on the ground and clenched his fists. There were fewer things that he hated more than losing and this loss stung quite a bit.

While it could technically be said that the match was a draw since neither combatant was left standing, Aurora fainted first.

It was a difficult loss to accept since they came so close to winning. The time between Aurora collapsing from exhaustion and Magby being thrown into the river was short – it couldn't have been any longer than four or five seconds.

Perhaps the worst part of all was not the loss itself, but who he lost to. The last thing that his rival needed was more fuel for his ego and the last thing Ash wanted to see was Gary's arrogant smirk after a win.

He was waiting for his rival to crack a joke or make some sort of wise crack, except it wasn't coming. There was no grin, no smirk, and no wise cracks at all from Gary. Instead he wore a sour expression like he had swallowed something bitter.

Ash put on a fake smile and reached into his pocket for his wallet. "To the victor goes the spoils." he remarked, pulling out a hundred dollar bill from his wallet.

Gary scowled and placed his hand on Ash's shoulder. "Put that away, Ashy-boy, what are you thinking?" he scolded.

Ash flinched and gave his rival a perplexed look.

"Don't act like you have no idea what I'm talking about," Gary grumbled. "What was the difference between a win and a loss here – like three seconds? And that's the difference even after I freaking speedblitzed you to force you on the defensive."

Gary's lips quirked up into a smirk.

"You take all the joy out of winning sometimes, Ashy-boy," he said, shaking his head. "I may have technically won, but my Magby wasn't standing at the end of the battle...hardly what you can call an outright win."

Gary paused.

"I put forth my best strategy and tried to give you no time to think and you still nearly handed me my rear end. It ticks me off."

Ash's lips quirked upwards into a smirk. He hadn't really thought of it like that. "What can I say, I do my best to tick you off," he retorted.

His rival glared at Ash and muttered some sort of profane remark under his breath.

"Leaving so soon?" Ash snickered.

"Figured I'd head out, I want to get to Viridian as soon as possible." Gary said. "Besides, I wouldn't want to catch your losing streak by hanging around you too long."

Ash snorted. "Is that so?"

Gary nodded and held up his hand to wave goodbye. "Yep," he replied. "A real case of loser-itis, I've seen this countless times before."

"You know, Gary, I should report you right now for being a quack."

Gary ignored the barb and turned to leave, hesitating briefly to get one last parting shot in. "Hey, Ashy-boy, save that money for me when I beat you outright the next time we battle." he instructed. "Smell ya later!"

"Don't hold your breath, you won't be prying money away from me anytime soon!" Ash shouted.

The trainer from Pallet Town smirked. He was still ticked about losing to Gary and there were days he hated the guy, but he'd be cast into Distortion for lying if he claimed the rivalry wasn't fun. There was just something delightful about preparing for the one person you needed to beat.

And it was only a matter of time until he would beat Gary.

Ash attention shifted from his rival to his unconscious starter. He reached into his backpack for a revive crystal and placed it into Aurora's mouth. The crystal dissolved in the fox's mouth, allowing the medicine to take effect before she jolted awake.

Aurora whined and glanced up at her trainer with a disheartened look on her face – even she was aware of what happened. Ash flashed a reassuring smile to the Vulpix.

"I know," he whispered. "It stings knowing that we were so close, but there's always next time."

Aurora whimpered, stumbling onto her feet and shaking to get the dust and dirt out of her fur. She wobbled back and forth, still trying to regain her bearings and recover from her bumps and bruises.

"We'll just have to train to become stronger." Ash said, glancing at the road ahead.

She glanced up at him and tilted her head, taking a moment to let Ash's words sink in. Aurora's bright blue eyes widened with excitement, losing the cloud haze of doubt and discouragement they had just a few moments earlier.

"We'll work harder than Gary so next time he won't stand a chance."

Aurora yipped in agreement as her face curled up into something loosely resembling a smile.

Once more, trainer and Pokemon were in sync. They both were ready to work hard to prepare themselves not only for a rematch against a rival, but for the challenges ahead of them.

After all, Viridian City and ultimately the first gym in Pewter awaited them.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: First, I want to thank Seanic Blueblur and Mateusz for their edits and advice throughout this rewrite, without their help I probably wouldn't have gotten this done! I highly suggest checking out their stories Inspirer and The Mortal Earth!**_

 _ **Second, for those of you returning to this story or those of you that just started, I have rewritten the first chapter and plan to continue rewriting this story to improve this story. I want people to be able to read a good story and know that my best work was put forward.**_

 _ **Anyways, hope you enjoy the revision! Don't forget to leave a review, I always appreciate the feedback! God bless, StandingMan signing off!**_


	2. The ACE

The trip to Viridian was relatively uneventful. Aside from light training with Aurora, there wasn't much to do. There were hardly any wild Pokemon around and he hadn't gotten a chance to battle anyone yet.

Ash did learn, however, that he missed sleeping in a soft bed. After camping on Route 1, he was aching all over.

His muscles felt like they had been run through a meat grinder and smashed with a hammer until they could no longer function. Needless to say, he hadn't slept well as a result. Between his aching muscles and sheer exhaustion, Ash was sluggish to say the least.

So far, his trip to Viridian was turning out to be a disappointment.

He had hoped to at least get a battle or two in before reaching Viridian City to give Aurora some battling experience. Practicing techniques would only get her so far and was hardly a substitute for actual battle conditions.

Ash smirked as he eyed the silhouette of a person in the distance.

"Get ready, Aurora, we might finally get some work in,"

Aurora's eyes lit up with excitement. The narrow loss to Gary lingered on both of their minds and they were eager to earn their first win.

Ash grinned as he and Aurora approached a boy with auburn hair who seemed preoccupied with talking to the yellow mouse beside him. He didn't have to pull out his Pokedex to identify the Pokemon standing beside him even if the fur on its head was styled in an unusual fashion.

Pikachu were a favorite of rookie and veteran trainers alike and were coveted by them because of their outstanding speed and agility.

The boy waved. "Are you a Pokemon trainer?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah,"

"Would you like to have a Pokemon battle?!" The boy exclaimed excitedly.

Ash flashed a quick thumbs up. "Yeah, I'd love to battle."

"Awesome! I wanted to let my partner Sparky get some practice; but I haven't really been able to find anyone to battle."

Ash smirked. Apparently he wasn't the only noticing how few trainers there were to battle.

"What's your name?" the auburn-haired boy asked. "I think it would be kinda weird to not even know the name of who I'm battling."

"Ash – my name is Ash Ketchum,"

"My name is Ritchie!" The boy flashed Ash another grin as he pointed to the Pikachu standing beside him. "And this is my partner, Sparky!"

Ash pointed to Aurora. "This is my partner, Aurora; she's the only Pokemon I have so this will have to be a one on one battle."

"No problem, I don't have any other Pokemon beside Sparky anyways," Ritchie replied.

"Looks like we've finally found a challenger," Ash muttered softly, just loud enough for the fox to hear.

"Think you can handle this?"

Aurora woofed an affirmative and took a battle stance in front of Ash, although he couldn't help but notice her slight tremble.

He couldn't blame her for being nervous because he was anxious himself. Ash still got a little jittery himself during battles.

He held his breath momentarily to calm himself down as he watched Ritchie reach for a Pokedex and quickly point the device at Aurora.

Judging by the confused look on Ritchie's face, Ash assumed that either the Alola forms weren't registered in his Pokedex or that he was stunned by the information about Alola forms.

Whatever the case might have been, his opponent's perplexed look didn't last long.

Ritchie gave his Pikachu a quick nod, causing the electric mouse to tense up and release yellow sparks from its cheeks.

His mind began to race. He never saw the speed that the species was known for. He hoped that the electric mouse wouldn't be too fast for Aurora to handle.

"Alright, time to get this battle started!" Ritchie declared. "Show 'em your Tail Whip!"

Before Ash had time to react, Ritchie's Pikachu barreled towards Aurora and launched itself into the air. The electric type swung its tail at Aurora's head.

"Agility!" Ash instructed.

Aurora yipped, darting away from her foe. Pikachu whiffed on its attempted strike and got a face full of dirt as it tumbled across the ground.

"Powder Snow!" Ash shouted.

The Alolan Vulpix retaliated against her foe and gathered air into her lungs before exhaling powerful gusts of cold air at the electric type.

Pikachu shivered slightly as the frigid winds lashed out against it.

Shrugging off the icy winds, Pikachu charged towards Aurora again. Ash frowned as the mouse lowered its shoulder and slammed into Aurora before the ice type could react.

Aurora winced slightly and eyed her left shoulder as she skidded backwards, indicating that her shoulder was hurting from Pikachu slamming into her.

Ash cursed under his breath.

His concerns about Pikachu's speed before the battle were proving to be a legitimate issue. During Pikachu's last sprint, he couldn't help but notice that the electric type was a step or two faster than usual.

Had Pikachu used Quick Attack?

"Hit 'em again with Quick Attack!" Ritchie exclaimed.

Pikachu darted towards Aurora again and slammed into her, knocking her backwards and forcing the air from her lungs. Aurora panted frantically as she struggled to catch her breath again.

Ash gritted his teeth – he hated Quick Attack. Not only was there a long list of hit and run tactics that could be utilized with the technique, but the evasive maneuvers that could be pulled off with the technique made it difficult to find an opening to attack.

"Keep 'em on the defensive with Thunder Shock, Sparky!" Ritchie exclaimed, swinging his arms wildly to emphasize his command.

"Agility!"

Aurora zipped back and forth to evade each of the lightning bolts hurled towards her, and retaliated with bursts of cold air. The electric type hesitated briefly, swerving out of the way to avoid the gusts of air.

Ash gritted his teeth. Most people wouldn't be able to notice it, but Aurora had lost a step or two from her shoulder injury.

It was looking like the battle with Gary all over again.

"Aurora, knock Pikachu off balance!" Ash shouted, switching tactics.

Aurora yipped her acknowledgment and sprinted towards Pikachu. Twirling through the air for momentum, Aurora slapped Pikachu in the head with her tail, causing the electric type to stagger backwards from the blow.

Showing no mercy, Aurora followed up Tail Whip with a frigid blast of cold air mingled with snow flurries aimed at her stumbling foe.

Pikachu grimaced as the chilly air engulfed it and left it covered in ice crystals.

"Pikachu, shake it off and put them back on the defensive with Thunder Shock!" Ritchie declared. "And don't let up!"

An almost undetectable smirk formed on Ash's face as his lips quirked up. This match was over.

"Disable!" Ash exclaimed. "Follow it up with Moonblast!"

Aurora's eyes flickered with an unnatural violet glow for a split second as she cast her gaze upon Pikachu. Her weak telekinetic abilities disrupted Pikachu's attack for a split second, giving Aurora a chance to fire off a sphere of light.

The energy blast didn't miss. A flash of dazzling pink light forced Ash to shield his eyes as the sphere of energy exploded.

Pikachu tumbled across the ground, thrown backwards by the concussive force of Aurora's Moonblast.

Ash smirked.

He had to question Ritchie's entire strategy. Ritchie's strategy of having his Pikachu go on an all-out offensive with Thunder Shock was very shortsighted because of how predictable it was and how poorly thought out it was.

Pikachu's speed exceeded that of Aurora's speed while it used Quick Attack, something that would have allowed Pikachu to get multiple hits on Aurora if the technique was used properly.

Ritchie's poor planning had likely just lost him the battle – at least it would cost him the battle if his next idea worked.

"Aurora, Freeze-Dry!" Ash exclaimed, wanting to try out the technique.

Aurora barked an affirmative. The fox's chest puffed out slightly, growing from the air taken into her lungs, before it slowly shrunk to its normal size as she exhaled the air stored in her lungs.

A fierce gust of wind, far stronger than any blast of cold air unleashed from Powder Snow, mingled with ice crystals battered Ritchie's Pikachu leaving the yellow mouse covered in a thin dusting of snow and severely chilled.

Ash felt a twinge of guilt over having Aurora use Freeze-Dry on Pikachu. While he loved Pokemon battles and the adrenaline rush that pumped through his veins during a battle, Ash hated seeing Pokemon in pain and Ritchie's Pikachu was definitely hurting.

The mouse looked absolutely miserable from the cold and Ash surmised that Aurora's subzero gusts probably gave Pikachu at least mild frostbite.

Ash was convinced that Ritchie's Pikachu was so exhausted that if Aurora merely bumped the electric type with her nose it would cause Pikachu to fall over.

Even Aurora seemed to notice how exhausted Pikachu was, she gave the mouse a sympathetic look as the mouse collapsed.

Ash fixed his gaze on the Pikachu laying on the ground unconscious.

A rush of thoughts flooded Ash's mind all at once, ranging from concern about Pikachu's health to reflection about how exciting his first win was. The amount of thoughts practically crippled his mind like a computer locking up from trying to handle hundreds of processes all at once.

Fortunately, Ritchie's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"That was fantastic! That Vulpix of yours is phenomenal!" Ritchie beamed.

Ash chuckled as he noticed Aurora's eyes light up from Ritchie's complement. The ice type was a sucker for flattery and having her ego stroked.

"Thanks, I'm actually impressed by how much she's progressed myself. Freeze-Dry that you saw was a spur of the moment thing."

Ritchie raised an eyebrow. "Really? She looked like a pro, she must be a quick learner!"

"Guess so," Ash replied, pausing briefly to glance at Ritchie's Pikachu. "Your Pikachu was fairly strong too, its Quick Attack had me a little worried."

Ritchie nodded as he knelt down beside the defeated electric type before returning Pikachu to its Poke Ball. "I recently had Sparky learn Quick Attack to take advantage of his species' speed and agility. It's nowhere near as polished as we'd like, but I can see that Quick Attack will be useful in the future."

"That will give you a goal to work towards,"

"I also have to admit it was really cool to get to see one of the Alolan forms in person!" Ritchie added.

Ash raised his eyebrows, he hadn't exactly expected the boy to know about the Alolan forms since they were a fairly new discovery in the scientific community.

"My parents are Pokemon researchers that work for Blaine," Ritchie explained with a hardy chuckle, seemingly aware of the reason that Ash was surprised. "They hear all the latest rumors in the scientific community. If it wasn't for my parents' involvement in the scientific community, I wouldn't have had any clue about the genetic changes and would probably be freaking out right now over seeing a white Vulpix."

Ash snorted in amusement at the parallels that he shared with Ritchie.

Their tastes in clothing were similar. Their wardrobes consisted of a plain t-shirt, a light jacket, and blue jeans. They both had connections in the scientific world. They even had similar circumstances upon arriving at Route 1.

The auburn-haired trainer was practically a carbon copy of him.

If Ash didn't know better, he would have thought that Ritchie was like one of the doppelgangers in anime that were created to mirror the protagonist and provide a foil at the same time.

The thought in and of itself caused Ash to scoff.

It was an absurd concept and a rather foolish thought. This was the real world, not an anime; and he found it ridiculous to believe that anyone would follow a series about children traveling the world alongside superpowered animals.

"I hope we can battle again some day." Ritchie smiled.

Ash gave him a quick nod in response. "Me too,"

Ritchie hesitated momentarily as he turned to leave and quickly spun back around. The auburn-haired trainer fished into his jacket pocket and pulled out leather wallet.

"I almost forgot!" Ritchie muttered as he pulled out a crisp hundred dollar bill and held it out to Ash. "To the victor go the spoils!"

Ash frowned at the gesture and shook his head. He was getting the most overwhelming sense of deju vu. "I don't need it, the battle was reward enough."

"Come on, take it!" Ritchie groaned. "You won fair and square."

"I can't take it, you'll need it more than I do. You're going to need to buy some potions for your Pikachu." Ash sighed.

Ritchie huffed as he forcefully placed the money in Ash's hand. "Take it, I'll be fine."

Ash clicked his tongue and reluctantly took the money from the auburn-haired trainer. He knew that he wasn't going to win the argument and tucked the money into one of the pockets of his jacket.

"Think of it as a loan more than anything else, because the next time we battle I'll be winning my money back!" Ritchie boomed with confidence. "That's a promise!"

"We'll see about that," Ash fired back playfully.

Ash tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans and smirked as he meandered down the road. He was quite pleased with himself and quite pleased with Aurora's battling prowess. They needed to work on a lot of things before they would even be close to prepared for facing the gyms, but they had a good start.

Besides, victory felt good – he needed a victory to get the bitter taste of a narrow loss to Gary out of his mouth.

He would definitely be heading to Viridian City on a high note.

* * *

Ash had the impression that he was at least getting close to Viridian because the lights on the horizon were too low to the ground to be stars in the sky. He assumed that they had to be either streetlights or lights from buildings.

He looked forward to arriving in Viridian and sleeping at a Pokemon Center in a soft bed.

Ash was beyond exhausted and every muscle in his body felt like it was on fire. It was only by sheer willpower that he was still able to move.

If the look on Aurora's face was any indication, the ice type was feeling just as tired and was aching just as much. While he had offered to let Aurora rest in her Luxury Ball, the ice type declined the offer, opting to endure the trip alongside her trainer.

Ash's suspicions that they were close to Viridian City were confirmed. A wooden sign on the side of the road showed that he had entered the boundaries of Viridian City.

As Ash entered the center of the town, he glanced around. Viridian City had more restaurants and businesses than he remembered.

In fact, the city itself was bigger than he remembered – not that he could bring himself to care at the moment. The only thing he cared about was finding to a Pokemon Center to get cleaned up and a soft bed.

Ash yawned as he peered down at his PokeNav and pulled up the GPS function on the touchscreen.

Judging by the small yellow arrow on the screen representing his current location and the bright red pin on the screen representing the Pokemon Center, he was getting close.

Finally, Ash reached exactly what he had been searching for – a large white building with an orange roof and the signature Poke Ball shaped seal on the front of the building.

Civilization had never felt or looked so good.

"We are here!" the trainer rejoiced.

Aurora yipped in agreement as she sprinted alongside her trainer, seemingly as eager to enter the Pokemon Center as her trainer.

Instead of Ash entering the lobby like he had anticipated, he was met with pain after colliding with the automatic doors.

He groaned in agony as he fell backwards.

Aurora whimpered and nudged Ash with her freezing cold nose, seeing if he was okay after his collision with the door. Ash shot up and dusted himself off.

"I'm fine, but these doors..." Ash muttered, stopping himself in midthought.

He waved his hand up and down in front of the door repeatedly, but the sensors were unresponsive.

Something was definitely wrong, the doors weren't opening. The trainer frowned as he peered into the Pokemon Center through the glass of the automatic door.

The front lobby appeared to be empty; but the lobby was an absolute mess. Scorch marks were visible on the tile floors, chairs were tossed about, and tables were tipped on their sides.

Ash frowned. The lobby looked for like a battlefield than a hospital.

 _Did a war break out or something?_

Suddenly, a face appeared in front of him, causing the trainer to flinch and nearly fall backwards from fright.

Aurora tensed and growled at the young woman with pink hair staring at them through the window.

Ash shook his head and nudged Vulpix in the side. "It's just Nurse Joy," he assured her. "She handles the medical procedures for the Pokemon Center."

Aurora relaxed slightly, but still watched the woman with suspicion.

"Who are you?" The physician asked in a rather icy tone instead of the cheery tone that the caretakers were known for.

He raised an eyebrow. That was definitely not the norm.

"My name is Ash Ketchum, I just arrived in Viridian City and I'm tired. I want to stay at the Pokemon Center for the night." Ash answered, his eyes shifting to the equally hostile Chansey looming behind her.

"Trainer ID please," Nurse Joy prompted.

Ash nodded as he whipped out his Pokedex and held it up after pulling up the ID section of the device. The pink-haired caretaker examined the identification information on the screen and the photo ID on the screen carefully.

"Come in," Nurse Joy declared as she pressed a series of buttons on the wall beside the door, causing the automatic doors to open. "Quickly!"

Ash motioned to Aurora as he stepped into the messy lobby of the Pokemon Center with Aurora trailing behind him. The moment he and Aurora entered the Pokemon Center, Nurse Joy quickly tapped a series of buttons on a keypad on the wall to cause the doors to close instantly and lock.

Ash gulped. He hadn't ever seen someone lock the doors to the Pokemon Center. Something really bad had to have happened for Nurse Joy to enact elaborate security measures.

The woman's hostile expression softened as he entered the Pokemon Center. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but today hasn't been a normal day." Nurse Joy said, faking a smile.

He nodded, glancing to the caretaker. She looked like crap – there were dark circles under her eyes and she looked tense.

His curiosity only continued to grow as he glanced around the room.

The damage was even worse than he had thought. There were burn marks on the walls, there were cracks in the ceiling, and there were entire chunks of floor that were missing.

"What happened here?" Ash asked, dumbfounded by the devastation. "The place looks like a battlefield!"

"That is because it was practically a battlefield," A young man interjected, meandering into the room.

Aurora yipped at the teen, unnerved by his presence.

Ash tensed as the man marched forward and stared at him. His emerald eyes felt like they were piercing through him.

He gave the man a once over.

The first thing he noticed was the man's outfit. His sense of fashion was eccentric to say the least. Large maroon cloaks weren't exactly in style.

"Did a Pokemon try to escape or something?" Ash asked, still not sure what would be capable of wrecking the room.

The mysterious man flicked at the long strands of gray hair covering half of his face.

Ash double-checked. Was the man's hair actually gray? There was enough blue tint to his hair that could have qualified it as a very strange shade of dark blue.

Nurse Joy glanced to the gray-haired man.

"The information will be discovered at some point, it is advantageous to be upfront rather than misleading and mysterious. Keeping people in the dark will only breed conspiracy theories." he paused. "That being said, it is to our advantage to let this information be told on our terms lest it send the region into a panic."

Nurse Joy pointed a finger at Ash. "What we're about to tell you must not be spread around, we don't want people to panic."

Ash grimaced. If the information was that sensitive, something major had to have happened. "Nothing will leave this room." he promised.

"The Pokemon Center was attacked." The gray-haired man stated.

Ash coughed, choking on his own saliva.

"Viridian City officials and the league are preparing to address the situation, but we don't want the region to panic over the incident."

"You're telling me that the Pokemon Center was attacked?" Ash repeated, hardly able to believe what he was hearing.

An incident like this was virtually unheard of.

"Yes, two Team Rocket operatives and their Meowth staged an attack on this Pokemon Center in hopes of swiping the Pokemon here." Nurse Joy continued.

"Nurse Joy and I managed to evacuate the Pokemon Center before we subdued the attackers. We called the police, Officer Jenny and Giovanni apprehended the attackers and are taking them to the police station here in Viridian City." the man interjected.

"Hold on a second, run through all that again!" Ash waved his arms frantically. Perhaps it was because of how tired he was, but the overload of information was too much for Ash to process all at once. "I didn't quite catch everything."

"Two Team Rocket operatives and their Meowth made an attempt to steal Pokemon from this facility," Nurse Joy repeated.

Ash raised his eyebrows. He still couldn't believe his ears.

"Hold on, what exactly is this Team Rocket that you're talking about?"

The gray-haired man seemingly changed gears. "Are you aware of Team Rocket's activity in Kanto?"

Ash shook his head. While he thought he had heard the name of the organization mentioned a few times on the news, he had little knowledge about the group or the group's activities.

"Team Rocket is a crime syndicate that uses Pokemon as weapons to achieve their goals." Nurse Joy said, her face contorting into a grimace at the mere thought of the organization.

"And their goals are?" Ash asked, growing more and more curious about the organization.

"World domination," the man answered bluntly. "Team Rocket envisions a totalitarian society and Pokemon are the weapons they utilize to accomplish their goal. The organization has quite the list of charges – they are on the books for at least two dozen cases of genetic experimentation, three dozen cases of poaching, a dozen cases of abuse, and four dozen cases of theft."

"Then they must be stopped." Ash gritted his teeth.

"The Indigo League has kept tabs on them for a while now and suppressed the uprising with force. However, the syndicate is emboldened and their legion is only growing larger." the man declared.

"So what do I do if I encounter their operatives?" Ash questioned.

"Don't be a hero, run and contact the authorities. Team Rocket members are extremely dangerous and they will not hesitate to use lethal force on anyone who gets in their way, including trainers your age." Nurse Joy replied. "They don't care about what actions they have they must take to accomplish their mission, as long as they complete it."

Ash nodded and felt a shiver go down his spine. The words "lethal force" echoed in his mind repeatedly. They certainly weren't inviting to say the least.

He kept a mental note to steer clear of the Rockets. While he was already beginning to hate Team Rocket just by their mere description and loved the idea of getting involved with the league to help crush the crime syndicate, Ash knew it was unrealistic for the time being.

Aurora was currently his only Pokemon and the ice type was nowhere near the level it needed to be at to deal with a force as strong as Team Rocket. However, once he had a bigger and stronger team, he would help make Team Rocket pay.

"You have a lot more knowledge about Team Rocket and league operations than most trainers." Ash remarked, glancing at the mysterious man.

The man nodded. "I have confronted them on occasion," he said. "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Tobias Takuto."

"Ash Ketchum," the trainer from Pallet Town declared abruptly as he held out his hand.

Tobias nodded and extended his own hand. "As you have already determined, I am contracted out by the league. Perhaps you have heard of ACE?"

Ash whistled. Tobias' position in the league was just as high as he expected. In fact, his rank was only exceeded by Elite Four trainees, full-fledged Elite Four members, and the regional champions.

ACE trainers were considered some of the most powerful trainers in the land and their responsibilities reflected their title. While their day to day jobs usually tended to be fairly mundane, ACE trainers were essentially the special forces of the Pokemon League.

Whenever the Elite Four and the champion were called to deal with a threat to the region, ACE trainers were deployed alongside them to serve as boots on the ground.

"No wonder the Rockets that attacked the Pokemon Center didn't stand a chance." Ash chuckled.

Tobias smirked at the remark and nodded. "The Rockets that attempted to seize the Pokemon Center weren't terribly strong. Bronzong and I managed to dispatch their Arcanine and Arbok quickly."

Ash raised an eyebrow at the mention of the foreign Pokemon.

"So your partner is Bronzong, huh?" Ash commented.

"Yeah, Bronzong are..." Tobias answered, before stopping briefly to consider his words. "Somewhat of a specialty in my family."

"Your family trains them?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, in a way," Tobias replied tersely.

There was a long silence between the trainers. Ash wasn't sure if his silence was simply a result of exhaustion or whether the older trainer just didn't enjoy conversation much.

"I apologize for giving off antisocial tendencies, but I am exhausted. I'd love to talk again, perhaps in the morning?" Tobias said, glancing at Aurora from time to time.

Ash chuckled. "I've been on the road for a while now, so I'm pretty tired myself."

"You two should probably get some rest then," Nurse Joy interjected.

"The lobby is a mess, I should probably help clean up." Tobias refuted.

"Yeah, I could lend a hand as well." Ash added.

Nurse Joy shook her head as she meandered over towards the service desk at the Pokemon Center and pulled two key cards from the drawer. "Cleaning can wait until morning," she chided. "It's late and we could all use some sleep."

Ash glanced over at Aurora. Nurse Joy was right, it was late and Ash and Aurora could use rest.

Reluctantly, Ash took the key card from the nurse and glanced at it before he tucked it into his pocket.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy, I'll see you in the morning."

The physician nodded.

Heading down one of the hallways, Ash used the card on the corresponding room's lock and stepped into the room with Aurora by his side. The exhausted trainer didn't even bother with taking a shower like he had originally planned or changing his clothes.

He was too tired to stop to look at the décor of the room, let alone prepare for , Ash plopped down on the bed and took a deep breath. He snickered slightly as he watched Aurora yawn and stretch out on a plush rug in the corner of the room.

Ash sunk into the bed as he relaxed his tired muscles. The bed was far more comfortable than he ever imagined it would be. He felt like he was floating on a cloud.

It certainly was a welcome change from lying on cold dirt in a sleeping bag.

Ash's eyes started to grow heavy from exhaustion. He didn't bother fighting the overwhelming feeling of exhaustion since he knew it was a battle he would lose. A slight smile formed on Ash's face as he surrendered to his exhaustion and closed his eyes.

* * *

Ash wasn't exactly a morning person, but today was an exception. This morning was different than the others. He felt refreshed and well rested, which was a welcome change.

He was nowhere near as stiff and as sore as he had been the previous day, which Ash credited to the hot shower that he had taken.

And boy did he enjoy the shower!

In the past Ash wouldn't have given taking a shower a single thought prior to his days as a trainer because of how mundane it was. After spending a few days as a trainer however, Ash could barely describe how delightful it was to rinse away the filth he had accumulated from three days of travel.

It was amazing how the little things in life could be taken for granted, and the perspective that one gained if the essentials were taken away for even a short period of time.

The only thing better than a good night's sleep and a hot shower was having breakfast in the Pokemon Center cafeteria. He hadn't eaten a hot meal in days and was tired of eating nothing but sandwiches.

He missed his mother's meals. Frankly, he missed anything that even remotely resembled a home cooked meal and was ecstatic when he visited the Pokemon Center's cafeteria.

The quality of the food at the Pokemon Center was amazing – although he wondered how much of it was just due to him being able to appreciate the food more.

Cafeteria food was often the butt of many jokes for its poor quality and equally poor taste; however, Ash was convinced that the cooks at the Pokemon Center were experts at their craft.

There was an abundance of choices at the breakfast buffet.

Ash snagged large helpings of eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, and pancakes. While the food wasn't quite as good as his mother's breakfasts, he would have been hard pressed to find a bigger or better tasting breakfast anywhere in the city.

After breakfast, Ash decided to check to see if Nurse Joy needed help cleaning up the lobby of the Pokemon Center and volunteered to help with whatever tasks needed to be done to get the place running again. While there was plenty of work, with the work split between him and Nurse Joy, it only took an hour or so to get the Pokemon Center into presentable shape.

There were still plenty of repairs and improvements that needed to be made to the lobby, ranging from fixing the drywall to setting new tile floors. Those were things, however, that would more than likely be a job for a contractor. Ash doubted that Nurse Joy could set new tile, put in new drywall, or repair the cracks in the ceiling; let alone find the time to do so.

Besides the obvious renovations that would have to be made, the Pokemon Center had been restored to its original shape and was usable. The chairs and tables in the lobby were returned to their positions, the floors were swept and mopped of the soot that had stained them, and decorative plants that had been knocked over were set back up.

Ash smiled. He was proud to know that he had helped get the place running again. His work wasn't a huge contribution, but it was better than doing nothing. Nurse Joy seemed to appreciate all the help she could get.

Not that he was surprised, running a Pokemon Center and treating hundreds of Pokemon a day seemed like a grueling task without having to handle the aftermath of an attack on the medical facility.

The trainer frowned at that thought. He couldn't help but wonder where in the world Tobias had been during all the work. He swore he had remembered the older trainer promising to help clean up the lobby the previous night.

It seemed rather unlikely to Ash that a trainer of Tobias' status would intentionally go back on his word, being that ACE trainers and the ACE organization were typically known for strict discipline. The only thing he could figure was that the older trainer had slept in.

Ash shrugged off the thought. It wasn't really any of his business, and he could check up on the ACE trainer later. He had more important matters to attend to.

He meandered to the service counter and stared at the doors leading to the back of the Pokemon Center. He glanced down at his PokeNav to check the time.

It was taking Nurse Joy a while to finish her checkup.

As if on cue, the pink-haired Pokemon Center physician pushed open the swinging doors that led to the hospital floor of the facility and returned to the lobby with a familiar snow-colored fox trailing behind her.

Ash snickered at Aurora's hurried trot. He had never really taken time to watch Aurora move around, and because of it had never seen how funny her walk was when she hurried. She looked like the caricatures of animals in cartoons that shuffled their stubby legs to get from one place to another.

He started to laugh even more as Aurora hunched down and barked at him playfully before springing straight at him and pouncing his feet. "Someone's happy this morning!" he declared, ruffling the fur on her head.

"She's been pretty excited ever since I gave her a few treats as a reward for behaving during her checkup." Nurse Joy explained.

"Ahh, so that's why you're so worked up, looks like the way to this one's heart is through her stomach!" Ash chuckled, eliciting a bark from Aurora. "How is her health?"

"She had a few bruises and contusions that I treated with some full restore to increase the healing process, but other than that she seems to be in good shape," Nurse Joy answered, pausing briefly as if she was in thought. "However, I don't think I can say that I've seen a white Vulpix before."

Ash shook his head and smirked. He had been expecting to get the question quite often and had prepared a short exposition about Aurora's genetics for this very purpose.

"According to Professor Oak, my Vulpix has different genetics than most other Vulpix." he explained, making sure to use as little information as possible.

Despite the fact that Nurse Joy could likely be trusted with the actual information about Aurora, he wanted to keep the information given about Aurora to a minimum.

Vague or not, Nurse Joy seemed to accept the brisk answer and quickly moved onto a different subject.

"Thanks for helping me clean up the Pokemon Center! You've really saved me quite a bit of time, it would have taken me forever to get this place in presentable shape without your assistance. Thanks to you, I'm going to be able to get this place back open a heck of a lot faster."

Ash nodded to Nurse Joy before his mind quickly drifted to the videophones in the corner of the lobby.

"Do you mind if I use the videophones?" Ash asked.

Nurse Joy flashed him a quick grin. "Go ahead, it's not a problem at all!"

"Thanks, Nurse Joy!"

Ash shuffled over to the phones.

He hadn't talked to his mother since he left Pallet Town and he imagined that she was starting to get worried. He owed her a phone call to see how she was doing and there would be Distortion to pay if he didn't call her soon to update her on his status.

Ash examined the videophone to try to familiarize himself with the device. While he had used the one at his house and was familiar with videophones, the videophone at the Pokemon Center had a slightly different interface than the one at his house.

The videophones at the Pokemon Center lacked the keypad that his videophone had, and instead was equipped with a touchscreen interface. Despite finding it to be a neat feature, Ash was still used to having to dial phone numbers on a keypad.

It took him a minute or two to figure out how to work the monitor's touchscreen controls, but after messing around with it long enough, he got the hang of the controls. Pulling up the digital keypad, the trainer from Pallet Town punched in his home phone number on the touchscreen.

Ash leaned back in his seat as the faint chime of the dial tone indicated that the videophone had placed the call. The trainer winced as the screen lit up.

He blinked quickly to get his eyes adjust to the bright glow of the screen before focusing on the familiar face on the screen.

"Hello, this is the Ketchum residence," Delia said.

"Hello, Mom, can you hear me?" Ash asked, testing the connection.

Delia's face lit up and a wide grin formed on her face. "Ash, it's so nice to hear from you! How are you doing? I haven't heard from you for a while!"

"Everything's great, Aurora and I arrived in Viridian City last night!" Ash beamed.

Delia nodded. "Wow, you two must have been booking it to Viridian City!"

"We could have camped out one more night; but we were pretty tired of being on the road and we wanted to get back to civilization. Aurora and I decided to endure the last couple of miles to Viridian instead." Ash laughed.

"Don't tell me you're getting tired of the life of a trainer already." Delia teased.

Ash snorted. "Not yet, but I did get a lesson about the difference between a sleeping bag and a bed."

Delia gave Ash a sympathetic look. "Ooh, that's not a very fun one – I can still remember the first time I learned that lesson myself. My parents took me with them on an expedition through Mt. Moon. I remember being unable to sleep because of how uncomfortable I was in my sleeping bag and I was nervous about the Zubat cries I heard in the cave," Delia paused. "I'm hoping you fared better,"

"Well, there weren't any Zubat to wake me up; but I couldn't sleep. I also felt as stiff as a board when I got up in the morning." Ash replied. "I guess walking long-distances and sleeping on the ground are a bad combination."

"At least, you're in Viridian now, it'll give you a chance to recuperate before heading back out on the road." Delia said.

Ash nodded. "I can't tell you how glad I am to be in a city again. This morning I had my first hot meal since being at home. It wasn't as good as your cooking, but it still was nice."

He paused and changed the subject to keep his mother from worrying. "How are you, Mom?"

"Good! Professor Oak and I have kept ourselves busy while you've been gone." Delia beamed.

"What have you two been working on?" Ash asked.

Delia held a large, silver textbook with the picture of a Poke Ball on the front up to the lens of the camera on the videophone. "Well, remember how Oak wanted to see the biology textbooks updated?"

Ash nodded and laughed a bit at the memory of Oak's vow to see his previous school textbooks replaced with textbooks containing the current findings.

"Yeah, I remember!"

"We finally finished the new textbooks and they are awaiting approval from the league and the school board!" Delia chirped.

"That's fantastic!" Ash exclaimed, genuinely excited to hear that the project had finally been completed.

"Yep, we're pretty stoked about that," Delia declared, hesitating for a second before smirking. "Have I told you that Oak has me involved in the Mt. Moon Meteor Expedition?"

"You are?" Ash's eyes widened.

He knew that his mother was often involved in cutting edge research and the latest advancements in technology, such as the Cinnabar-Pewter fossil restoration project and the cooperative work of Oak and Silph Co. to develop the Ultra Ball; but he hadn't expected her to be involved in the upcoming Mt. Moon excavation.

The project was supposed to be huge if he recalled Professor Oak's incoherent rambling about the expedition correctly.

Delia nodded. "I'm going to be on front lines helping extract the meteors."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Those are the meteors connected to mega evolution, right?"

He couldn't remember much about the meteors, aside from Oak telling him there were unstable energy signatures at the meteor crash sites and that the energy had something to do with mega evolution.

"That's right, multiple scans indicate that the energy signature radiating from the crash sites are the same as the energy that radiates from the sundial in Kalos and mega evolution in general." Delia confirmed.

"You'll have to tell me all about the expedition next time I call." Ash said.

"You can count on that, I think it will be huge." Delia said.

"Let's hope it is!" Ash chuckled.

"It's actually good that you called when you did because Professor Oak and I are going to be at Mt. Moon for the next couple of days, so you wouldn't have been able to contact me at the house. I was going to send you an email to notify you about the expedition to prevent you from worrying, but this works out even better!"

"If I was closer, I'd try to meet up with you since I have to head to Pewter City for my first gym badge."

"We're not going to be at Mt. Moon for more than a couple days," Delia sighed. "Professor Oak and I are going to help with the excavation and drop some of the samples off at the Pewter Museum for further analysis. We're going to take the rest of the meteor samples back to the lab in Pallet Town so we can examine them further."

Ash shrugged. "It was worth a try,"

"We'll have to meet up another time," Delia suggested. "It's somewhat strange not having you around."

Ash frowned and felt his heart sink from the weight of guilt. He still hated the thought of leaving his mother on her own no matter how many times she assured him that she was okay.

As if she could read his mind, Delia shook her head and clicked her tongue. "Don't you start up with that moping again, Ash Ketchum! I am capable of handling myself on my own and I have plenty of people to keep me company. If anything, you should be finding yourself some friends."

Ash's frown quickly shifted back into a smile. She always had the right words to say to encourage him. "I'll be sure to do that!" he promised, flashing his mother a quick thumbs-up.

An icy cold nose prodded his leg, reminding him of her presence.

"Now that I think of it, I already have one good friend!" Ash scooped up Aurora and held her up to the camera.

Aurora greeted Delia with a cheerful yip and licked the screen.

"Ah, yes, a very good friend indeed!" Delia giggled. "So, have you been keeping an eye on Ash for me?"

Aurora barked and held her head up with pride, seemingly answering the question, causing both Ash and Delia to laugh.

"Speaking of good friends, now that we're on the subject, Professor Oak wanted to give you something since he gave a gift to Gary. I'll leave it at the Pokemon Center in Pewter so you can pick it up when you get there."

"He didn't have to do that," Ash objected.

"He insisted upon it, he figured that you would get a lot of use out of it in the future." Delia explained.

Ash raised his eyebrows. Now he was curious. "What exactly is Professor Oak sending?"

"You'll just have to find out when you get to Pewter City." Delia trilled in a singsong voice.

"Not even a hint?" Ash groaned.

Delia shook her head. "That would spoil the surprise."

Ash sunk down in his seat out of disappointment. He wasn't going to get anything out of her and he knew it was pointless to try to change her mind.

An awkward silence fell between the two as the mother and child struggled to find something else to say – one last tidbit of information before they said their goodbyes.

He frowned. There wasn't anything left to cover other than the Viridian City Pokemon Center attack, but that information was off-limits.

Besides, Professor Oak likely had the information already.

The pause was abruptly interrupted by a buzzer in the background that Ash recognized as the clothes dryer.

"Looks like my laundry is done, I should probably go grab my clothes!" Delia laughed.

"Alright, I'll let you go," he said.

"Thanks for calling, I've really missed talking to you. You'll have to call more often!" Delia beamed. "Stay safe on your journey, find lots of Pokemon, and have fun!"

"I will!" Ash promised.

"Love you, honey, I hope you win at the Pewter City gym!" Delia exclaimed.

Ash nodded and watched as the screen faded to black. The trainer sighed a felt a dull pain in his chest. He swore his heart had skipped a beat. Seeing his home and talking to his mother made him a bit homesick.

It was a strange dichotomy – he couldn't have been more thrilled to be a trainer, yet at the same time he missed Pallet Town. He missed talking to his mother about the latest findings at the lab, he missed going for walks down by the shore, he missed seeing the simple cottage homes in Pallet Town, and he missed visiting Professor Oak's lab.

He supposed that still caring about his hometown, his family, and his friends was a good thing. It meant that he hadn't forgotten the people or the place he left behind.

Ash had heard a few stories of trainers that spent all their time alone in the wilderness after leaving on their journeys and lived for nothing more than the next adventure, forgetting completely about the things that they left behind.

The trainer frowned. He would never become one of those trainers.

An icy chill on his face snapped Ash out of his thoughts. A small, cold nose tapped him on the cheek, causing the trainer to flinch from the bitter chill. Ash absentmindedly stroked the fur on the ice type's neck.

He glanced at his watch.

There was still plenty of time left before it was nightfall, but finding a good way to spend that time was proving to be a challenge.

Aurora tilted her head and whimpered, seemingly asking Ash the same question he was thinking in his mind.

Ash's eyes lit up as his mind shifted to the battlefields outside the Pokemon Centers. He had recalled seeing them in the online descriptions of Pokemon Centers and when he had passed a few of them while shopping with his mother in other cities.

Ash and Aurora had yet to go through their daily training regimen. Their time would likely be best spent training. After all, if they were going to challenge the Pewter City gym and beat Gary someday they would have to get stronger.

Of course, that all hinged on whether or not Aurora wanted to train today.

"From what I remember, the Pokemon Center has a battlefield out back; we might be able to get some training in if you want to."

The ice type sprung out of Ash's arms and face-planted on the floor with a loud thud. Dusting herself off after her tumble, Aurora held her head up with pride as if nothing had happened and yipped at her trainer excitedly.

He took that as a yes.

* * *

A bright smile formed on Ash's face as he glanced up at the sky upon exiting the Pokemon Center. He couldn't have asked for a better day. The air was crisp and cool, and the sun peeked out from the clouds just enough to provide warmth without creating harsh sunlight and sweltering heat.

The trainer took a deep breath, filling his lungs with as much air as he could before slowly expelling it from his lungs. It may have been one of the most refreshing things he had ever done in his life.

Spending time outside to train was going to be beneficial in more ways than one. Not only did Ash and Aurora need to train, but Ash needed some fresh air. He found the smell of the Pokemon Center to be sickening.

While he had acclimated enough to the scent of harsh cleaning chemicals wafting through the Pokemon Center to somewhat tolerate the scent, he swore the fumes were shaving years off of his life. He could only imagine how much worse it was for Aurora considering that the ice type had a far more sensitive nose than he did.

His mind shifted gears as he refocused on his upcoming training session with Aurora. Ash's mind raced through a long list of things that he wanted to work on with Aurora.

He hoped to further hone the Vulpix's skill with her ice attacks since they were her primary offensive techniques. He especially hoped to work on Freeze-Dry because of the immense power behind Freeze-Dry had behind it.

It would be essential to perfect that technique before challenging Brock.

He also wanted Aurora to work on improving her speed and evasion by working on Agility. Even though Ash had beaten Ritchie, Aurora's reaction and speed needed to be improved. Had Ritchie's Pikachu been more experienced and had Ritchie's Pikachu relied on Quick Attack more, the electric type would have made quick work of Aurora.

The battle with Ritchie showed Ash that speed could be a deciding factor in battle. Quick Pokemon could not only leave their opponent off-balance with a string of combo attacks, but they were less vulnerable to attacks. Hitting a moving target, especially a speedy moving target, was much tougher than hitting a sluggish target or a stationary target.

He figured that a combination of long distance sprints and working on Agility would help Aurora improve on her speed.

In addition to the speed training, Ash wanted to continue improving upon Moonblast. The Moonblast that Aurora had used against Magby was small compared to the Moonblast attacks he had seen on television capable of incapacitating a Dragonite.

In addition to perfecting Moonblast, he hoped to try to work on her telekinetic abilities to further improve them.

Disable would be a valuable asset in battle for immobilizing foes and considering that mastering telekinesis was the primary requisite for the Vulpix line learning Extrasensory, Ash had even more incentive to have Aurora master Disable.

Lastly, Ash hoped to begin training Aurora to utilize her Snow Warning ability even if it was somewhat impractical since he doubted that she could even use the ability properly or sustain it.

In an ideal world, however, he would be able to help her grasp the concept of how to whip up a snowstorm and teach her how to control the environment around her.

If he could teach her the fundamentals of controlling the temperature and how to generate a snowstorm around her, Aurora could possibly use the technique in the future once she gained the stamina to sustain a snowstorm.

At the very least, it would help her improve her on using Powder Snow and Freeze-Dry.

Ash meandered down the sidewalk circling the Pokemon Center and stopped upon arriving at his destination, taking a moment to examine the Pokemon Center's battlefield.

The Pokemon Center's battlefield wasn't anything spectacular and it wasn't anything like the polished battlefields that gyms had. It was practically nothing more than a patch of dirt that had been packed down until it was smooth with white lines painted on it.

Nevertheless, it was all he and Aurora would need to train.

Before he could sprint out onto the battlefield, his eyes shifted to a hovering cobalt-colored bell.

Aurora tensed up and growled at the giant bell.

Ash raised his eyebrows. Where had that come from? He was positive that the bell wasn't there a few seconds ago and he was certain he would have noticed it. Bronzong, after all, were impossible to miss because of their oddly shaped bodies and large size.

His question was quickly answered as a figure stepped out from behind the cobalt bell. Ash recognized the teen instantly. Tobias' long grayish-blue hair was just as difficult to miss as the Pokemon he was standing beside.

Noticing Ash's arrival, the teen gave Ash a friendly wave. "Hello," Tobias declared formally, hesitating momentarily as if in thought. "It is Ash, right?"

The trainer from Pallet Town nodded.

Tobias smiled. "Ahh, so I managed to remember!"

"Where were you this morning?" Ash asked abruptly. He cringed at the way his question sounded since it sounded harsher than he intended.

"You noticed my absence this morning?" Tobias chuckled dryly. "I fully intended to help clean up the Pokemon Center, however, the Viridian City gym leader summoned me for more questioning about the Team Rocket incident. I also had to file a report to my ACE unit regarding my involvement in defending the Pokemon Center."

"I didn't mean to sound confrontational," Ash sputtered before being interrupted.

"Oh no, you don't need to apologize! It would be somewhat strange if a trainer of my rank reneged and outright disappeared. I'd be interested to find out what happened as well. Analyzing a situation is actually a good thing to do, both in everyday life and as a trainer."

"Giovanni must be taking the incident incredibly seriously to have brought you in for more questioning." Ash remarked, quickly changing the subject.

"He doesn't seem terribly happy about Team Rocket establishing a presence in his city. He has a full scale investigation underway and has vowed to do everything in his power to aid the league's crackdown on Team Rocket." Tobias replied.

He paused briefly. "I'd tell you more, but I think you've already heard too much. The things I've told you aren't classified information, but it's not something that needs to be circulating as public knowledge either. Besides, you don't have to worry about this kind of stuff yet. You'll have plenty of time to do this type of stuff when you get older."

Ash scowled at the older trainer. He couldn't help but be disappointed that Tobias wouldn't be sharing any more information.

Tobias shook his head. "I know this stuff is probably exciting to you and you wish you could be doing stuff like this – it was enthralling for me when I was your age and I dreamed about getting a lofty position with the league – but you should enjoy your freedom while you still have it. Rank comes with loads of responsibility and what the league requires from you can be exhausting."

Ash nodded, partially acknowledging Tobias' words. He hadn't ever stopped to consider the weight that an official of the Pokemon league shouldered. While it hardly deterred Ash from his desire to aid the league, it definitely gave him a new perspective.

Shaking off the thoughts of possible futures, Ash glanced over at Tobias' Bronzong. "So this is your Bronzong?" he mused.

"Yes," Tobias answered tersely, despite maintaining a polite tone. "Bronzong was my first Pokemon and is a magnificent Pokemon at that."

"Is Bronzong very strong?" Ash asked, cringing after realizing how stupid the question sounded.

Tobias shrugged. "Strength is relative. While strong in its own right and likely capable of at least giving some of the Elite Four's Pokemon a run for their money, my Bronzong pales in comparison to the cornerstones of the champions."

Ash raised his eyebrows.

He didn't know how to reply to Tobias' answer. Tobias had a knack for downplaying things. The ACE trainer had more than implied that his Bronzong was Elite Four level in strength, but had been quick to diminish his abilities as a trainer.

It was an accomplishment for a trainer's Pokemon to match the strength of Elite Four's Pokemon. He found it surprising that he could downplay something like that as if it was nothing.

"I would also be hard-pressed to believe that my Bronzong is superior to my cousin's Bronzong." Tobias added.

Ash scoffed with a snort of contest. He was almost convinced that the ACE trainer was patronizing him at this point with false modesty. "Your cousin owns a Bronzong as well?"

"Yes, Bronzong was his first Pokemon as well. Perhaps you are familiar with him, have you heard of Lucian?" Tobias replied nonchalantly.

Ash's eyes bulged in shock. While he didn't have as much knowledge about foreign Elite Four members as he had knowledge on the Kanto Elite Four members, Ash had watched televised Pokemon battles and kept up to date on the happenings of the Pokemon League enough to know who Lucian was.

Lucian was many things – a psychologist, a scholar, a genius tactician, and a recent addition to the Sinnoh Elite Four. His psychic type Pokemon were considered to be among the best in the entire world with his Bronzong being the chief example of his team's abilities.

The steel bell's defenses were impenetrable and its ability to generate mental barriers was said to be on par with Steven's Metagross. Ash had seen a few of Lucian's battles on television and the steel type had wrecked a Luxray with a single Flash Cannon.

Ash stared at Tobias incredulously, barely able to believe what he had just heard. The ACE trainer had just claimed to be related to one of the strongest trainers on the face of the earth. Either Tobias was the biggest liar Ash had ever met, or the ACE trainer was telling the truth.

"Y–You're r–r-related to L–Lucian?" Ash sputtered, still dumbfounded by the claim.

Tobias nodded casually.

"We had a friendly rivalry when we were younger, I believe it helped push us to improve and reach the lofty places we are today." Tobias answered.

Ash examined the ACE trainer head-to-toe and frowned.

Now that he examined Tobias closer, he could see many of Lucian's features. Tobias had similar facial expressions to his equally stoic counterpart, his hair color was similar even if it was far darker, and he favored hair style of his cousin.

Tobias also seemed to have a similar taste in fashion. The ACE trainer wore a dark maroon cloak that reminded Ash of Lucian's signature maroon suit that he always seemed to wear.

"Still skeptical? Perhaps, a battle will help convince you," Tobias chuckled, noticing the perplexed look on Ash's face. "My team's battling style is said to partially resemble that of my cousin's team, even if I prefer a bit more of a direct approach."

Ash paled slightly at the suggestion. As tempting as a battle was, Aurora wouldn't last a second against an ACE trainer's team – let alone against an ACE trainer whose team was supposedly Elite Four level. One hit from one of Tobias' Pokemon would be enough to knock out Aurora easily, if not maim or kill the young ice type.

"I don't know if Aurora could handle facing one of your Pokemon. She barely has a week of battling experience."

Tobias shook his head. "Perhaps, I should be more specific, I won't use one of my main team members," he clarified. "I think your Vulpix could handle facing my Froslass. My Froslass is only about a year old and was recently evolved. She isn't completely acclimated to her new body so she lacks the speed that an older Froslass would have and her battling experience is limited compared to my other Pokemon. I think that would make for an even battle."

Ash glanced over at Aurora. "Think you can handle this?"

Aurora barked excitedly and darted onto the battlefield.

"You're on!" Ash exclaimed, flashing a thumbs-up to Tobias before taking his place on the battlefield.

Tobias quickly followed suit and stepped forward. "Bronzong, consider this the training session we were going to have. I want you to maintain a barrier around the battlefield to block any stray attacks."

The steel bell grumbled its acknowledgment. Bronzong's scarlet eyes flashed greenish-yellow momentarily as the steel type tested its ability to generate shields by forming a bright yellow wall of light to surround the battlefield.

Ignoring his Bronzong's test of its telekinetic powers, Tobias smirked as he unclipped a Poke Ball from his belt. "Let us begin, shall we!" he declared as he pressed the button on the orb to release a humanoid-like Pokemon comprised primarily of a hollow torso.

The creature's bright blue eyes seemed to glow from within the violet circles around its eyes. Upon eyeing her opponent, the mysterious Pokemon let out an ominous giggle. "This is Froslass," Tobias introduced with an air of confidence. "And she will be your opponent."

Ash whipped out his Pokedex and aimed it at Froslass to scan the mysterious Pokemon to gain more information on her. Instantly, the screen lit up and displayed a picture of Froslass on the screen before beginning to describe Froslass in a familiar robotic monotone.

 _Froslass – the snow land Pokemon and the evolved form of Snorunt. Froslass are capable of freezing enemies with an icy breath of negative sixty degrees Fahrenheit. While it appears to have a body, its body is actually hollow._

Ash glanced at Froslass and frowned. Because Froslass were ice types, most of Aurora's attacks were useless against Froslass. He would have to find another way to take down the ice type.

"Do you want the first move?" Tobias asked politely.

Ash nodded.

"Then let us see what you can do!" Tobias declared.

"Aurora, Powder Snow, let's go!" Ash shouted.

Aurora yipped an affirmative and took aim at her foe. Opening her maw, the ice type exhaled to release a fierce blast of snow flurries and chilly wind gusts. Unaffected by the chilly gust and the snow flurries, Froslass shrugged off the arctic blast and fired a small orb of white light into the sky.

Ash felt goosebumps form on his arms and a violent shiver shook his body as he felt the temperature drop dramatically. Large, fluffy snowflakes began to fall from the sky reducing visibility substantially with white-out conditions.

The heavy snow made it nearly impossible for either trainer to see the Pokemon on the battlefield thanks to Aurora's white fur and Froslass' white body that seemed to blend in seamlessly with the blizzard-like conditions.

Ash squinted as he tried to find Aurora and Froslass inside the blizzard. He caught a quick glimpse of a white corporeal silhouette zigzagging through the haze before a bright flash of light engulfed the shadow to lock it in place.

Ash grinned as he saw two glowing violet orbs inside the haze.

Froslass let out a sharp shriek as her position was revealed by Aurora's telekinetic momentary telekinetic prison. The fox barreled towards and twirled through the air to slap Froslass with her tails.

Much to the fox's dismay, her tails seemingly phased through Froslass' body.

Ash gritted his teeth in frustration as Froslass disappeared without a trace. "How did it not hit!" he gasped.

A calm voice rang out on the other side of the curtain of snow, explaining his mistake. "Froslass are not mere ice types, but they also have the traits of the ghost type. Physical attacks will do little to harm a living shadow capable of turning itself intangible."

Ash groaned.

He should have figured that Froslass was part ghost type. It certainly explained why it seemed like a silhouette while moving in the shroud of snow.

Before Ash could warn Aurora, a white silhouette revealed itself behind the fox and formed a small sphere of ice in its hands. Froslass giggled mischievously as she hurled the projectile at Aurora's head.

The Alolan Vulpix yelped as the chunk of ice hit its mark and smacked her in the back of the head, stunning her momentarily. Twirling around to try to find her foe, Froslass disappeared in the curtain of snow flurries again.

Aurora's natural camouflage was practically worthless. While her fur made it difficult for either Ash or Tobias to see her, Froslass was able to get close enough to Aurora to see her and harass her with attacks.

Ash looked around rapidly, looking for any trace of Froslass.

He couldn't tell where Froslass was. The ghost-like Pokemon blended in with the snow too well. Not that it would do Ash and Aurora any good to find Froslass, Aurora's ice attacks were completely useless against it.

A familiar white silhouette formed to the left of Aurora and exhaled a weak burst of wind gusts that seemed to be more of a nuisance to the Vulpix than an actual attack.

"Aurora, Freeze-Dry!"

Glancing over to her left, Aurora locked onto her foe and took in as much air as she possibly could. The ice type whined as she exhaled the air from her lungs. Not bothering to dodge the attack, Froslass giggled as she took the attack head on and merely shrugged it off before forming a violet ball of fire in each of her hands.

Ash grimaced as the ghost vanished in the snowfall again before reappearing behind Aurora seconds later.

"Aurora!" he shrieked.

Before the fox could react, the two spheres of fire struck Aurora and engulfed the fox in bright violet flames. The snow-colored fox yelped in pain from the intense heat suddenly overwhelming her. In an effort to douse the flames, the ice type puffed cold air on herself.

Froslass giggled mischievously again before exhaling icy winds from her mouth that put out the flames.

Ash examined Aurora briefly and let out a sigh of relief. While Aurora's fur seemed to be singed, the flames hadn't managed to actually burn Aurora.

Although, at this point, it seemed like Froslass was just toying with them. It made him wonder how much of that was because of its trainer.

"Aurora, Powder Snow!" Ash commanded.

Aurora woofed an affirmative before spewing out icy cold winds at her opponent's face. She puffed out her chest proudly, seemingly enjoying getting back at Froslass for hitting her with flames even if her icy winds had little effect on the ghost.

Aurora's moral victory was short-lived as Froslass quickly disappeared into the snowy haze again.

Ash felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up as Froslass let out a series of terrifying trills, reappearing repeatedly around Aurora before morphing into a silhouette again and disappearing into the blizzard to try to confuse her opponent.

Ash clenched his fists. He was growing tired of the Meowth and Rattata game that Froslass seemed to be playing with him and Aurora.

Judging by Aurora's heavy pants, she couldn't keep this game up much longer. She was clearly exhausted and unaccustomed to fighting for long periods of time.

Ash took a mental note of that. He would also have to work with Aurora on improving her endurance in addition to her basic training.

For now, they just needed to adapt.

"Don't try to look for it, listen to its giggles. The moment you hear Froslass is close trap it with Disable." Ash whispered just loud enough for Aurora's sensitive ears to hear.

She whimpered in acknowledgment and closed her eyes. Relying on her keen hearing, the fox listened to the shrieks of her opponent waiting for the cries to get closer.

Aurora growled as she heard a giggle to her left and whipped around to face the ghost. Before Froslass could react, bright violet light shrouded her body to trap her in place long enough for the Vulpix to fire off a Moonblast.

Ash shielded his eyes from the bright flash accompanying the detonation. Thrown down like a ragdoll by the explosion, Froslass landed on the ground with a loud thud and skidded across the battlefield.

Shaking off the hit, Froslass zipped back up into the air and attempted to disappear into the snowstorm like the ghost had done so many times before.

Before Froslass could completely fade away in the blizzard, the snowstorm started to die down before coming to a complete halt.

Changing plans, the ghost shifted gears and ditched the camouflage gambit for the much simpler task of forming a chunk of ice between its hands.

Ash tensed up as he felt his heart racing inside his chest. They were reaching the moment of truth – the next few attacks would likely decide the outcome of the battle. "Get ready, Aurora," he muttered.

As Froslass raised her arms and prepared to hurl the chunk of ice, Aurora opened her mouth and began to charge up another sphere of radiant pink light.

Just as both Pokemon fired off their attacks, a bright yellow wall of light formed in front of Aurora and Froslass. Instead of hitting their intended targets, Froslass' ball of ice and Aurora's energy blast crashed into the golden wall and burst upon impact.

Ash shut his eyes to prevent himself from being blinded.

Tobias smiled. "Thank you, Bronzong,"

The giant steel bell grumbled.

Aurora and Froslass eyed the barriers with a perplexed look on their faces. Ash couldn't blame them since he was just as puzzled as they were.

"I hope you don't mind me stopping our battle. Things were starting to get fairly intense and I didn't want to risk either of our Pokemon getting injured." Tobias explained. "Your Vulpix is very young and my Froslass is somewhat frail,"

Tobias' Froslass glared at him for his unflattering remark.

"I want to take extra precautions to prevent injury."

Ash nodded, flashing a quick smile. "I understand," he said, despite inwardly feeling very disappointed to have the battle end so anticlimactically.

He wanted to finish that battle, but it apparently wasn't meant to be. He supposed that was what rematches were for.

"I'm impressed that you two managed to last so long. Most trainers would have been completely overwhelmed by Froslass' ability to camouflage itself in a snowstorm. You two managed to handle that well." Tobias complimented.

"To be honest, Froslass had me pretty worried," Ash chuckled. "Most of Aurora's attacks didn't do anything to Froslass and it was nearly impossible to track Froslass. If Aurora didn't know Moonblast we would have been in a lot of trouble."

"I was a bit surprised that you two managed to pull off a successful Moonblast attack. Young Pokemon tend to have struggle with a technique of that magnitude."

"It's not perfect, but we're working on it."

"I would have her practice it more," The ACE trainer advised. "It's obviously nowhere near full power, but she seems to have a decent grasp on the concept."

Aurora barked at Tobias cheerfully, clearly pleased with the ACE trainer's praises. She seemed to enjoy having her ego stroked more than Gary.

"The perfected technique has a larger blast radius, hits harder, and should take up less energy. Even though your Vulpix can use the technique, her form is sloppy and it uses more energy than it needs to. You need to work on compressing the energy."

Ash raised an eyebrow. That wasn't something he had heard of before, but it was certainly something he would have to look into.

"I was equally surprised that she could use Freeze-Dry. That's something, you'll want to work on too. Freeze-Dry is a very handy technique because it is especially effective on water types because it chills them to the point of freezing their internal organs." Tobias said.

"We've just started working on Freeze-Dry, I think it'll help us in our first gym battle."

Tobias nodded. "Good, mastering those attacks will help you reach new horizons. I would advise that you continue working on Disable as well. Alolan Vulpix have access to a wide variety of ice, telekinetic, and illusion techniques. If she can master Powder Snow and Freeze-Dry she can use it as a reference point for learning future techniques."

Ash flinched. He probably shouldn't have been surprised that Tobias identified Vulpix, but it still caught him off guard.

For whatever reason, the thought never even crossed his mind that Tobias would be able to identify Aurora.

"I believe that you could use your Alolan Vulpix's knowledge of ice attacks and Disable to help teach her Ice Shard and Confuse Ray," Tobias began before Ash abruptly interrupted him.

"How do you know about Alolan Vulpix?"

Tobias paled at the question, his face contorting into something akin to a scowl. Ash frowned – it looked out of place on the usually stoic trainer.

Had he overstepped his bounds?

"The league got a report about an illegal Pokemon mill run by Pokemon traffickers a couple months back and they sent my unit to investigate," Tobias stated, his voice devoid of all emotion.

Ash clenched his fists tightly, cutting off the blood flow to his knuckles turning them white.

Pokemon traffickers and poachers were a special kind of evil. Poachers and traffickers generally didn't care about the Pokemon they imprisoned, much less human life. Morality was foreign to them.

He wasn't sure what Tobias had found on his mission, but judging by his reaction it was something very serious.

"I'll keep it short – what we found wasn't pretty," Tobias said, disdain visible on his face. "We found quite a few exotic Pokemon cooped up in a dingy warehouse. We couldn't ID them at the time, but we were informed after taking them to headquarters that they were species from the Alola region that were relatively unknown to the other regions due to Alola's isolation from the rest of the world. Quite a few of them were Pokemon native to Kanto that had undergone genetic transformation in Alola – Alolan Vulpix being one of them."

Ash nodded in understanding and relaxed, somewhat contented with the explanation. He would have appreciated details of the investigation and details of the raid; but he figured that there was reasons for Tobias gave him limited information.

"Alolan Vulpix can learn Confuse Ray?" Ash asked, shifting the conversation back to the original topic.

The ACE trainer's iciness melted away and was immediately replaced with the stoic expression that he typically displayed. "Yes, Alolan Vulpix are capable of learning both Confuse Ray and Ice Shard fairly early on in their development."

Ash nodded, adding that to his mental notes. The techniques were definitely worth looking into and adding to Aurora's training regimen. "Actually, I originally came out here to train with Aurora."

"What were you two planning on working on?" Tobias asked.

"We wanted to work on Agility and Aurora's overall speed to help with evasion, we wanted to continue perfecting Disable, we wanted to continue working on Powder Snow, and wanted to practice Freeze-Dry a little bit." Ash answered. "However, after hearing that Aurora can learn Confuse Ray and Ice Shard I'd like to look into teaching those techniques to her."

"Convenient," Tobias said, pointing to his Froslass. Ash snickered slightly as he glanced over at the ghost type that had apparently taken to pestering Bronzong while they had been talking. "I actually came out here to work with my team."

"What were you going to work on?" Ash asked.

"I mainly wanted to help Froslass continue to acclimate to her new form and help her improve upon a few techniques. We're trying to perfect Will-O-Wisp, Ice Shard, and Confuse Ray." Tobias said. "The techniques are still in the developmental process, but she's improving every day."

Tobias glanced at Aurora and smirked. "In fact, it just occurred to me, since your Alolan Vulpix is capable of utilizing Ice Shard and Confuse Ray, would you be interested in having my Froslass teach your Vulpix the techniques?"

"Seriously?" Ash exclaimed with a manic grin.

"Sure, I figured it only made sense to train together since we're both going to use the battlefield to train with our Pokemon. I'm going to be working with Froslass on perfecting Ice Shard and Confuse Ray, it's not really any trouble to teach them to your Vulpix." Tobias replied.

Ash rubbed his hands together excitedly. He knew this was going to be fun.

* * *

Ash groaned and rubbed his temples. He was exhausted both mentally and physically, and he would have done anything to go inside the Pokemon Center to unwind. Judging by the look on Aurora's face, she was equally exhausted.

While he was still incredibly grateful for Tobias' offer to train together with Ash, he didn't exactly realize how detail oriented that the ACE trainer was.

Ash's head was throbbing from the amount of information he was trying to remember. All the information was almost too much to process. The ACE trainer was like a walking encyclopedia.

Tobias had rambled on about everything from the data about techniques stored in the Pokedex, to the physiology of the Vulpix line, to the physics behind Pokemon attacks, to the fact that trainers were only to give instructions to their Pokemon rather than micromanage them.

He didn't realize how driven and perfectionistic Tobias was prior to training with him. He was even more like his cousin than Ash imagined.

When the ACE trainer had suggested training together, he expected them to train together for quite a while; but he didn't expect to still be up training at ten o' clock at night.

They had literally gone through everything. Tobias had Aurora work on Moonblast, Freeze-Dry, Powder Snow, Disable, and Agility in addition to keeping his promise of teaching Ice Shard and Confuse Ray to Aurora.

"Alright, I want you and Vulpix to run through everything one more time." Tobias declared.

Ash groaned, eliciting a sympathetic look from Tobias.

"I know you're exhausted, I am exhausted myself; but improvement only comes through lots of hard work. There are a lot of trainers that think spending an hour or two is sufficient practice time, but I'm going to tell you that only spending a few hours to run through the basics isn't going to help your Pokemon get the muscle memory and practice they need to improve. There were times that I devoted practically every single hour of the week to training with my team." Tobias said.

Ash sighed, begrudgingly accepting that Tobias was right. If he was ever to become a Pokemon Master, Ash and his Pokemon would have to put in the work to improve.

"What will we start with?" Ash asked reluctantly.

"Start with the offensive techniques, afterwards we'll test your Vulpix's instincts and her other techniques," Tobias answered confidently. "And don't hold back, Bronzong can take whatever you throw at it."

Ash grabbed the bridge of his baseball cap and flipped it backwards. He didn't need to block out the sun at night and figured the extra visibility would be beneficial.

"Aurora, let's wreck Bronzong's shields and show Tobias what we're really made of!" Ash exclaimed excitedly.

While he knew that there was absolutely no chance of Aurora's attacks actually shattering Bronzong's shields, he thought that putting the goal in Aurora's mind would help motivate her and get their minds off their exhaustion.

Without hesitation, Aurora sprung into action and dashed towards her opponent. Tobias nodded in approval as Aurora picked up a noticeable burst of speed.

She wasn't a burner like Ritchie's Pikachu, but Agilty certainly helped her move faster.

"What are the principles behind Agility?" Tobias exclaimed.

Ash felt a lump form in his throat and cursed under his breath. He knew Tobias stressed mental training and expounded upon the details of each of Aurora's techniques, but he hadn't expected a quiz.

"Agility is primarily an evasion tactic and a technique used to build momentum. A Pokemon that uses Agility releases a dose of adrenaline through their body to increase the rate at which their internal organs function. The adrenaline rush can often cause the veins to increase in size from increased blood flow, causing the muscles to expand in size. This allows the user to reach speeds that they are otherwise incapable of reaching and enhances lateral mobility." Ash said.

"And what are its downsides?" Tobias asked.

"Agility has the downside of tiring out the user due to the increased strain placed upon a Pokemon."

Tobias clapped approvingly as Bronzong raised a bright yellow wall of light to block Aurora's attempt of slapping the steel bell with her tails. Ash shielded his eyes to prevent himself from being blinded by the bright flash of light accompanying the very minor strain of the energy wall.

"Powder Snow!" Ash shouted as the ice type sprung off the barrier.

Aurora woofed her approval as she took in a quick breath of air and exhaled a jet stream of chilly air that clashed with Bronzong's shields to cause them to light up again with a barely noticeable flicker.

"And what are the physics behind Powder Snow?"

"Powder Snow is an attack in which a user takes air into the lungs!" Ash cried, coming to a loss for words shortly after.

He cursed under his breath. Why couldn't he remember the rest of process?

He watched Aurora land on her feet and fire off another blast of icy gusts that struck Bronzong's telekinetic wall and caused the yellow barrier to flicker again. The information was slowly coming back to him, but he didn't quite have all the pieces together yet for a detailed report.

Tobias gave him a disappointed look. "I'm waiting,"

Ash gritted his teeth, he'd have to wing it.

"The air is chilled inside the body to subzero temperatures by specialized cyro organs inside the lungs and throughout the body. The air taken into the body is chilled in a process similar to refrigeration!"

Tobias rubbed his chin in thought. "Not bad, but I feel you could have provided more information regarding the cyro organs."

Ash ignored the critique and plotted out his next move. He glanced up at the moon. He definitely knew what he was going to use next.

"Aurora, Moonblast!" Ash commanded promptly.

Aurora yipped her acknowledgment as she opened her mouth as wide as she could. Particles of bright pink light began to coalesce inside her mouth and slowly shifted into a tiny moon.

Ash took a quick mental note – Moonblast was slightly stronger at night. In the day, Aurora had only created a sphere about the size of a golf ball; but under the light of the moon she could form an orb of energy the size of a baseball.

"Tell me, how does Moonblast function?" Tobias questioned, feigning curiosity.

"Moonblast is an attack in which a Pokemon absorbs lunar light," Ash cringed at his statement. The sheer absurdity of the concept was almost too much for him to handle. It was completely absurd to believe that Pokemon could process the light of the moon, but it was exactly what they did to utilize the technique.

Ash covered his eyes again to prevent the flash accompanied with the strain of Bronzong's telekinetic barrier from blinding him. "The Pokemon using the technique channels the light into an attack and fires it at their opponent."

"Poor exposition – you left out the fact that lunar light is the primary energy source for fairy types," Tobias chided. "You also failed to expound on how the energy is processed and how the energy is compressed and rotated to form a sphere."

Ash swore under his breath. Moonblast was the one technique he was positive he would be able to explain clearly due to all the information Tobias had given him.

"Aurora, Freeze-Dry!" Ash clenched his fists, growing increasingly frustrated.

Aurora inhaled and puffed out her chest, filling her lungs with as much air as possible. Hoping to catch Bronzong off guard, the ice type quickly released several waves of adrenaline through her system to enhance her speed.

Aurora darted sharply to Bronzong's left and opened her mouth.

Fierce wind gusts poured from Aurora's maw and froze the water vapor in the air, leaving a dusting of snow on the ground where the arctic blast had traveled through the air. A bright yellow wall of light formed in front of Bronzong mere seconds before the icy gusts could hit their intended target.

Ash flinched. Bronzong's telekinetic barrier flashed yellow from strain, blinding the trainer momentarily and leaving him seeing stars. He blinked rapidly, hoping that it would remedy his blindness.

Ash dug his fingernails into his palm and he clenched his fists in frustration. He had lost his night vision.

"Freeze-Dry – what is it and how does it work?" Tobias asked.

Ash scowled and bit his tongue to prevent himself from saying something that he shouldn't. It took every fiber of his being not to start ranting. Why of all the times to ask about Freeze-Dry had Tobias managed to pick the particular second that Ash was practically blind?

He was convinced that Tobias was asking him about Pokemon attacks just to tick him off at this point.

"Freeze-Dry is similar to Powder Snow! The user inhales air that is chilled by the cyro organs inside the lungs! The cyro organs release chilled gases into the inhaled air that has a sublimation effect and chill the air!" Ash blurted out as fast as he could. "The major difference is that the oxygen is chilled to a lower temperature for Freeze-Dry."

"Fantastic," Tobias declared, giving Ash a brief congratulatory round of applause.

Tobias motioned towards the shadows. A white silhouette streaked out from its hiding spot and formed a small chunk of ice in its hands. "Tell me about Ice Shard,"

Ash frowned.

Apparently, Tobias wasn't even going to wait to use an attack before asking him to expound on it this time around. Just as Ash's night vision returned to him, a chunk of ice whizzed past Aurora's head only missing her by a few inches.

Aurora growled and tensed up slightly as Froslass formed another chunk of ice and threw it. Aurora quickly followed suit and intercepted Froslass' Ice Shard attack with tiny chunk of ice of her own.

The attacks collided with each other at full speed resulting in a loud crack echoing through the air and the shards of ice shattering into dozens of tiny ice chips that fell to the ground.

"What is Ice Shard?" Tobias repeated with a hint of impatience in his voice.

"Ice Shard is a technique in which a user chills the water vapor in the air by exhaling cold air to form a chunk of ice. The ice chunks are held in place with telekinesis and thrown via telekinesis." Ash answered confidently.

"Very good!" Tobias nodded and flashed Ash a quick smile. " Your Vulpix's form wasn't bad, considering that your Vulpix just learned the attack."

Froslass giggled mischievously as she formed two lavender spheres of fire in her hands and casually tossed the fireballs up and down like they were her playthings. Froslass' giggles intensified as she hurled the lavender orbs of flame down around her opponent.

Lavender flames rose towards the sky and engulfed the battlefield for a brief second as the fireballs hit the ground, trapping Aurora in a ring of lavender flames.

Ash gritted his teeth. If there was something ice types didn't like, it was fire.

Ice types generally had thick fur or thick fat reserves to keep them warm in the cold, which tended to be counterproductive in the heat. Because ice types had adapted to stay warm in their arctic habitats, when exposed to higher temperatures they tended to overheat.

Combined with the fact that many ice type techniques required the water vapor from the air to be utilized properly, fire was all the more problematic since it reduced or eliminated the water vapor in the air.

Knowing that she needed to act, Aurora took a deep breath and unleashed a gale of chilled air upon the flames. Ash grinned as the flames were reduced to smoldering embers. The wall of fire was gone which meant Ash and Aurora were free to go on the offensive again.

Froslass giggled again as she hurled several more lavender fireballs down at her opponent that left scorch marks on the ground where they had hit.

Aurora zigzagged back and forth, relying on Agility to increase her speed so she could dodge the fireballs thrown her way. Focusing her gaze on Froslass, the fox trapped Froslass in a weak telekinetic prison to fire off another Moonblast to stun the ghost.

"Ahh, Disable again!" Tobias paused. "Tell me, how does it work?"

"Disable is a technique that relies on telekinetic abilities and telekinetic abilities alone to trap an opponent momentarily. It is best used to throw off the timing of an attack, but can be used offensively to immobilize foes to buy extra time to attack." Ash said. "Pokemon can use more of their brain than mankind and as a result have access to specialized parts of the brain dedicated exclusively for sensory perception. This can be used to utilize telekinetic abilities."

"Impressive, you really know your stuff!" Tobias applauded. "However, let's see how prepared you really are – Froslass, Confuse Ray!"

Froslass shrugged off the Moonblast and locked eyes with Aurora. The ghost type's pupils flashed red before a dark crimson light took over her eyes. Aurora flinched after being exposed to the bright flash of light.

Aurora groaned in anguish and fell to the ground in a series of convulsions like she was having a seizure. Ash hated Confuse Ray because of how brutal the technique was.

"So tell me, what is Confuse Ray?" Tobias asked.

Ash gritted his teeth and reached down for Aurora's Luxury Ball, mulling whether or not to return the ice type to the safety of stasis inside the orb.

Before Ash could withdraw her, Tobias' Froslass ended the illusions, leaving a mentally and physically exhausted Aurora lying on the ground.

"Confuse Ray is a dangerous illusion-based technique that utilizes one-hundred percent of the user's mind and hypnotizes the opponent's mind into perceiving a false reality." Ash answered with a scowl. "While in effect, the mind of the opponent is at the mercy of the user since the user controls the illusions. It is frowned upon by the league because if not controlled properly or used without limiting the power, the illusions can cause permanent insanity."

Tobias' face turned solemn. "Remember that Confuse Ray is a very dangerous technique. It is not something you want to resort to frequently because it is both taxing to the user," he pointed to Froslass who looked like she was on the brink of falling to the ground. "And even in small doses it is very potent."

Ash nodded as he glanced down at Aurora who had only regained a small fraction of her strength. The fox looked like she was in terrible shape. Her body was quivering, she could barely stand up, and she seemed to be out of breath.

He doubted that he would be forgetting how powerful and how dangerous Confuse Ray was anytime soon after seeing what it had done to Aurora and Froslass. The images of Aurora's suffering and Froslass' fatigue imprinted on his mind served as more of a warning than Tobias' verbal admonishments ever could.

He knew the ramifications of using the technique and would try to use it only as a last resort.

Tobias yawned as he reached for a Poke Ball and aimed it at Froslass. A dark crimson beam of light pulled the ghost type into the stasis of the orb, allowing him to tuck the orb into the pocket of his overcoat. "I think that it's time to call it a day, it's getting late and I'm very tired. We put in a lot of work today."

Ash smiled as he quickly followed suit by returning Aurora to her Luxury Ball. He would definitely have to reward her hard work with a treat later, but for now the only things he could think about was getting her checked for injuries by Nurse Joy and getting some sleep.

"Thanks for everything today," Ash beamed. "I really appreciate that you took the time to train with me and Aurora! It was really cool!"

Tobias waved off Ash's praise as he returned his Bronzong to its Poke Ball. "It's nothing really, I actually enjoyed working with you two. Besides, it's the job of league trainers to pay it forward,"

"Pay it forward?" Ash echoed, somewhat confused by the ACE trainer's reply.

"Back when I was your age I got all sorts of advice and training from veteran trainers, I consider teaching someone else payment for everything I was taught. I imagine that one day you'll be doing the same thing." Tobias clarified.

"Of course, that's part of the fun of being a trainer, isn't it?" Ash replied. "We learn from each other and pass what we learned down to someone else."

Tobias smiled. "Remember what I showed you about your Vulpix's techniques and continue to practice using Ice Shard and Confuse Ray, but please remember not to practice using Confuse Ray on living things and remember not to look directly into Vulpix's eyes when she practices the technique."

Ash nodded.

"Also when you practice using Confuse Ray, practice the technique at night or in the dark, you'll be able to see Vulpix's eyes that way. If Vulpix's eyes emit a flash of light you'll know that Vulpix is performing it correctly."

"We'll have the technique figured out in no time!" Ash exclaimed.

As the trainers headed back towards the Pokemon Center to retire for the night, Tobias paused at the door and glanced back at Ash. "You mentioned to me that you were headed to Pewter City to challenge the Pewter City gym, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Ash replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Since you're passing through Viridian Forest, I figured that you'd want to know the latest information regarding the forest." Tobias answered.

"Huh?"

"It's stampede season for Ponyta and Rapidash." Tobias said

"Stampede season?" Ash echoed, not familiar with the term.

Tobias smirked. "Ponyta and Rapidash have seasonal ranges that most people call stampede season. Right now, they should be migrating from their breeding grounds in the remote regions of Viridian Forest and heading to their spring range around Route 17. Now is the perfect time to catch one if you want one."

Ash's lips quirked up in a grin at the thought of catching a Ponyta. His team needed diversity and a fire type would help make his team more diverse. Not only would catching one give him a Pokemon that knew fire type moves, but it would make his battling style more flexible.

Ponyta were agile speedsters best suited for close to medium range combat that were capable of overwhelming opponents with their speed.

He would definitely have to keep his eyes peeled for Ponyta while traveling through Viridian Forest.

"Thanks for the tip," Ash muttered. Tobias nodded as he turned back towards the door and stepped into the Pokemon Center lobby.

"Actually, thanks for everything today! I really appreciate all your help." Ash yawned as he followed the ACE trainer into the Pokemon Center and held his hand out to the ACE trainer.

Tobias smiled as he shook Ash's hand. "It's no problem, I enjoyed battling with you."

Ash yawned again as the trainers turned and headed their separate ways, finding it difficult to even keep his eyes open. The trainer from Pallet Town felt a nagging feeling of exhaustion pulling at him once more as he meandered up to the service desk and rang the bell on the counter to signal for Nurse Joy.

He hoped that Aurora's checkup would be short.

* * *

Ash smiled. Viridian Forest was even more impressive than he thought it would be.

He never saw as many trees as there were in Viridian Forest. They surrounded the narrow dirt path before him and stretched out as far as the eye could see.

He wasn't sure he ever saw trees as tall as the ones in Viridian Forest either. Most of the trees towered above him like skyscrapers, the tops of which were far too high to get an accurate estimate of how tall they were.

The lush forest was a big contrast from the dull grays of Viridian City.

The trainer scowled at the mere thought of Viridian City. Although it had been nice to spend a few days in town to rest and recuperate, Ash quickly tired of the place once he realized how congested and noisy the small city could be. Being from Pallet Town, he wasn't used to the hustle and bustle of Virdian. People were always rushing in and out of stores, and cars were always zipping in and out of the parking lots of the Viridian businesses.

It was a bit overwhelming.

While he enjoyed shopping at the Viridian Poke Mart and checking out some of the local stores, there wasn't a whole lot he could do while in Viridian. He didn't have a team that was anywhere near ready to take on the gym leader, there weren't any special tourist attractions to visit, and there was no wildlife in Viridian City.

His run-in with a drunken homeowner that tried to prevent him using the street had also left him with a bitter taste in his mouth after leaving Viridian. Ash still couldn't believe that the old man had tried to tell him that the street was a part of his property, nor could he believe the string of profanity that had exited the man's mouth.

At least he got a Pokemon battle out of the situation. There was nothing more satisfying than watching the old man's poorly trained Rattata get absolutely demolished by Aurora and have the man finally let him pass.

Ash really enjoyed getting a chance to try out Confuse Ray in an actual battle. While Ash doubted that Tobias would have approved of Aurora using Confuse Ray in those circumstances, Ash felt that it was justified.

The old drunk had not only threatened to call the police on Ash for trespassing on his land, goaded Ash into a battle by suddenly changing his mind and wagering a free pass if Ash could beat him, but the drunk repeatedly boasted about how much stronger his Rattata was compared to Aurora while battling.

A mere second of exposure to Confuse Ray's illusions made quick work of the drunk's Rattata and shut him up pretty quickly.

A loud squawk snapped Ash out of his thoughts. The trainer from Pallet Town glanced around warily and looked up at the source of the aggravated chirps.

Two Pidgey squawked at each other from high up in the trees, apparently fighting over a small hole in a tree – likely a desired nesting area.

Ash let out a sigh of relief and relaxed as he realized that the birds weren't the menaces he was expecting. For a moment he thought that the cries were that of angry Spearow.

Pidgey were docile birds known for a calm temperament that didn't bother people. Spearow, on the other hand, were aggressive and territorial. Spearow tended to dislike anyone or anything that entered their territory, and they made that known in no uncertain terms by attacking perceived intruders.

Not all the Pokemon in Viridian Forest were friendly. Bug types fed on both tree leaves and often fed on trees themselves, making Viridian Forest the perfect habitat for bug types. Weedle, Kakuna, and Beedrill all found Viridian Forest to be comfortable habitat much like Spearow and they tended not to enjoy visitors either.

And unlike the wild birds that tended to be a minor annoyance, all three of the most common bugs produced toxins that if left untreated for too long could be debilitating or even deadly.

Actually, Spearow was likely the least of his concerns.

Many territorial Pokemon called Viridian Forest their home. Pinsir, Venomoth, and Nidoran found Viridian Forest to be a suitable environment, all of which were equally dangerous each for their own reasons.

Trainers navigating the forest needed to exercise extreme caution because of how many aggressive species of Pokemon lived in the forest. It was easy to wander off the barely recognizable and rather narrow trails that snaked through the forest without even realizing it.

Losing the path not only made it easy to get lost, but it also made it easy to stumble into the territory of wild Pokemon.

Fortunately, he wouldn't wander off the path and getting lost like some sort of idiotic novice looking for trouble. He had a PokeNav equipped with GPS and detailed maps that would make trekking through the forest a breeze.

With any luck at all, Ash would be in Pewter City in no time. He doubted that it would even take him the full three days it took to navigate Viridian Forest.

He frowned as his stomach rumbled, reminding him of how long it had been since he had last eaten. Perhaps it was time for him and Aurora to eat.

The trainer reached into his backpack for a plastic tray with a yellow covering, Aurora's food dish, and her Pokemon food.

He ripped off the lid to his Vulpix's food and dumped it into her bowl before focusing on his own meal.

Ash grumbled to himself as he struggled with the plastic seal on his food. He let out a sigh of relief as he finally yanked off the plastic cover and snatched the sandwich out of the tray.

Ash snorted at the pathetic excuse of a breakfast that the prepackaged peanut butter and jelly sandwich was, but took a bite of it anyways. The sandwiches contained in the prepackaged meals from the Poke Mart paled in comparison to the sandwiches that his mother made in both taste and size, but he had long since finished off those sandwiches.

Instead, he was left with a cheap substitute that had about a tenth of the flavor of a traditional sandwich and half the size. The bread was like cardboard and the stuff put inside the sandwiches was usually bland at best.

At least the meals had drink packets and chips to help get the main course down, although in hindsight he should have questioned why the meals were so cheap. Fifteen meals for one hundred dollars was unusual to say the least.

He glanced down at Aurora and smiled as he watched her devour her food. At least she was enjoying her meal.

The Alolan Vulpix peeked up at Ash from her dish and nudged the bowl closer to him almost as if to offer him a bite. He chuckled at the heartfelt gesture.

"I'm good." he laughed.

* * *

His trip through Viridian Forest was turning out to be just as disappointing as his meal. Getting to Pewter City was taking far longer than Ash wanted it to. He had hoped to arrive in Pewter in three days or less, but he was now on day four of traipsing through the forest.

He was definitely lost.

Ash lost the trail about halfway through the trip. The dense forest and vegetation erased all evidence of the trail's existence.

Worse yet, his backup plan of using his PokeNav to guide him through the forest wasn't an option. His device couldn't get a signal in the forest which rendered the device useless. Without signal provided from a cell tower, Ash was unable to pull up maps or use the GPS function as a guide.

His only real option at this point was to continue exploring the woods until he found the path or people that could point him to Pewter City and civilization.

Unless...

Ash smirked as his eyes settled upon the tall trees of the forest. Why hadn't he thought of that sooner? Higher ground would give him a better view of his surroundings and would potentially let him see the forest trails.

Ash looked up towards the tops of the trees and pursed his lips. The trees around him weren't any shorter than the ones he saw when he first arrived at the forest. A fall from that height would easily break bones, if not kill a person.

He had to find the right tree to climb.

Unfortunately, most of the trees around him couldn't be climbed without specialized gear. The trunks were just too wide. When climbing a tree the height of the trees of Viridian Forest, it was imperative to wrap your arms and legs around the tree to prevent falls – at least that was the technique, he and Gary used to use.

What Ash needed was a smaller tree that he could wrap his arms and legs around so he could climb up it without the use of gear. The trainer from Pallet Town scanned the forest briefly in search of the perfect tree.

Eyeing several maples with smaller trunks than the other trees, Ash darted over to the base of the tree to estimate its width. The trainer quickly wrapped his arms around the of one of the trees to see if the trunk was small enough to hang onto.

A maniac grin formed on Ash's face. The gnarled bark scraped his hands, but his arms fit around the trunk perfectly.

He had found the right tree.

The maples that had caught his eye were small but sturdy trees and had plenty of large limbs that he could rest at to prevent himself from getting tired.

It wasn't much different than some of the trees he had climbed when he was younger. Getting to the top would be a breeze.

Ash wrapped his arms and legs around the trunk of the tree and grunted as he pulled himself up the tree inch by inch. He was beginning to get an idea of what it was like to move like a Caterpie.

His muscles burned from exhaustion halfway into his climb. His hands were rubbed raw and his arms and legs were cramping.

Despite the pain, Ash doubled his efforts and climbed to the nearest branch. He sat down on the tree limb and hung his feet over the edge to take a break and let himself recuperate.

Ash gasped in awe at the view as he took a moment to take in the scenery. He wasn't even near the top of the tree yet, but just the height he was at made the world below look tiny.

He could finally see the peaks of the trees that had once seemed like giant skyscrapers. It made him wonder what the world looked like from space.

The trainer's excitement was short-lived after he made another discovery – he was not alone.

Ash's heart sank as he eyed several tan exoskeletons hanging on the tree bark further up on the tree. A grimace formed on his face and his urge to climb further up the tree completely disappeared.

Ash cursed under his breath as he looked around at the other maples and found the same tan exoskeletons hanging from the bark.

 _Why did I have to pick the trees with Kakuna?_

What seemed like a great idea had deteriorated into one of the worst decisions that he had ever made. People that disturbed Kakuna had a death wish.

The slightest movement or the slightest sound could set them off into a frenzy and cause them to evolve into a furious swarm of Beedrill. Ash cursed under his breath again as he began the long climb down the tree.

He felt a lump form in his throat as he glanced down at the forest floor below and looked back up at the bug types hanging above him.

Climbing up and down a tree was tough enough when you knew that falling from the height could cause be possibly be a fatal mistake; however, knowing that the bug types above you could decide to attack at any second made the endeavor even more difficult.

A surge of adrenaline coursed through Ash's veins, giving him a second wind and helping him ignore his aching muscles. Inching his way back down the tree, Ash repeatedly looked up at the Kakuna partially expecting a swarm of Beedrill to emerge with each movement he made.

He grinned as he looked down and saw that he was almost back down on solid ground. He only had a good twenty yards or so to go. He only wished that he could dry his sweaty hands, as they were making it hard to grip.

Without warning, the world around Ash started to move in slow motion. It took him a moment for his mind to register what happened, but the moment it did he let out a sharp scream before landing on the forest floor with a loud thud.

Ash sputtered as he hit the ground.

Was he dying? Had his lungs collapsed from the fall? He couldn't even inhale the smallest breath of air. He couldn't possibly be dying, he hadn't fallen from very high up.

After thirty seconds of pure agony from lack of oxygen, Ash felt air rush back into his lungs. A smile formed on Ash's face from pure ecstasy. He could breathe again! The trainer let out a sigh of relief as he sat up and dusted himself off.

The simple task of breathing had never been so beautiful to Ash in his entire life. He mentally filed the incident away as another example of appreciating the mundane after it had been taken away.

His excitement was short-lived.

A bright flash of light up in the canopy of the maple trees caught his attention and caused his eyes to widen. The Kakuna that he had tried so hard to avoid disturbing were evolving, likely due to hearing his bloodcurdling scream during his fall. As the bug types emerged from their cocoons, the Beedrill glared down at Ash ready to eviscerate the intruder in their territory.

Ash cursed under his breath, his face contorting into a scowl.

The trainer from Pallet Town darted back towards his campsite to fetch his things and grab Aurora. He mentally scolded himself for climbing the trees. How he ever thought that anything good could come out of it astounded him.

He was lucky not to kill himself by falling from a higher height or disturb the Kakuna upon climbing up to the top.

Eyeing his campsite, Ash scooped up his trash, his sleeping bag, and Aurora's now apparently empty food dish. The trainer frantically stuffed the items into his backpack in a panic.

"Get up, Aurora, we gotta leave!" Ash exclaimed.

The ice type peeked up at the trainer and tilted her head in confusion, far too groggy to comprehend what was going on around her.

"There are Beedrill headed this way," Ash explained, motioning for her to follow him as he took off into the forest.

Aurora sprung up onto her feet at the mere mention of the bug types and followed her trainer.

In any other situation, Ash would have cared about the direction he was headed; but with a large cloud of insects on the horizon he couldn't afford to think about getting to Pewter City at the moment. The trainer frowned as he stepped over logs and pushed small tree limbs back as he headed into the thick vegetation of the forest.

He could barely walk with all the stumps, logs, and slippery leaves on the ground, let alone run. Peering back at the Beedrill, Ash grimaced as they seemed to be getting closer. He estimated that the swarm was only about a hundred yards away.

Ash and Aurora forced their way through the thick brush to try to escape the Beedrill. He clenched his fists as he tripped over a log and landed flat on his face.

He cursed under his breath. The forest was too dense to run through.

Aurora whimpered at him to see if he was okay.

"I'm fine," Ash assured her as he stood back up and dusted himself off.

He felt his heart sink. The Beedrill were too fast and there was too much vegetation to run through to escape. Their only real option was to fight back.

"We're going to have to fight them off!" Ash exclaimed. Skeptical of Ash's plan, Aurora tilted her head and looked at him doubtfully. "I don't think we have any other choice, there's no paths to use and the undergrowth is nearly impossible to walk through."

Aurora whimpered softly, acknowledging her trainer's point and looked up at the swarm inching towards them. Ash unconsciously dug his fingernails into his palms out of anxiety as he turned to face the Beedrill charging towards them.

He pointed up at the cloud of bug types and nodded to Aurora. The Alolan Vulpix took as much air into her lungs as she could possibly muster and expelled the air into the swarm in the form of powerful arctic gusts.

Unable to tolerate the freezing cold wind gusts, a large portion of the swarm made a U-turn and flew away as quick as they could. With the attacking force nearly cut in half, Aurora turned her focus on the remaining attackers and unleashed another burst of arctic air upon the charging bugs, thinning their numbers even further.

The remaining Beedrill charged forward with even more vigor as they fired off dozens of venomous barbs at Ash and Aurora, forcing both of them to take cover behind a tree.

"Aurora, Freeze-Dry!" Ash cried.

Leaping back into the fray, Aurora exhaled icy wind gusts at the remaining Beedrill and forced the bug types back. Aurora continued her counteroffensive against the bug types, repeatedly puffing out blast after blast of arctic air at the swarm.

One by one each of the would be attackers fled, unable to handle the chilling winds Aurora unleashed upon them. Before Aurora could dispel the few Beedrill left that were foolish enough to continue their charge, a bright orange flash resembling a meteor rushed past Aurora and towards the Beedrill.

Bright orange dust singed the remaining bug types' exoskeletons, causing the wounded Beedrill to retreat in fear of their attacker. The orange silhouette that had taken down the last few Beedrill proclaimed its victory with a triumphant whine and skidded to a halt as it turned to look at Ash.

He felt his heart skip a beat out of excitement. A young colt with a bright orange mane of fire trotted up to the trainer and held out its leg to the trainer. Ash could hardly believe what he was seeing.

While he wasn't surprised that he had encountered a Ponyta since Tobias had told him that the horses were passing through the forest, what he was surprised by was the events that had unfolded before him. Ponyta's actions were a one and in a million occurrence.

Wild Pokemon rarely intervened on the behalf of a stranger and wild Ponyta were even less likely to intervene. Wild Ponyta were untamed creatures that generally avoided contact with people.

Aurora eyed the colt suspiciously and growled at the fire type; but Ash quickly waved her off, knowing that the colt wasn't a threat.

Examining Ponyta's leg, the trainer blanched as he eyed a large red scar on the colt's leg. "How did you get that?" he muttered, pointing to the infected wound.

The colt brayed in reply and winced upon setting its leg back down on the ground. Ash flung his backpack onto the ground and unzipped the bag. Reaching around in the bag, Ash grasped for the potions stored in his backpack and pulled out the first one he could find in his bag.

"I've got something here that will help you with your injury. Would you like me to use it on your leg?" Ash asked, offering a potion to the colt.

The colt whined at Ash and held up its leg again, seemingly comprehending that Ash was trying to help it. Ash marveled at the level of intelligence and trust displayed by the colt. If Ash didn't know better, he would have thought that he was dealing with a Pokemon owned by a trainer.

"This might sting a bit and might be cold, but I promise it will help that wound." Ash muttered, hoping that talking to the colt would help it to remain calm.

Ash pressed the tab on the top of the potion bottle, causing a light mist of antiseptic infused with Ditto cells to rush out from the bottle onto the injury. Ponyta flinched and backed away from Ash, startled by the chill of the liquid on its skin.

"I know it's cold, but it will help disinfect the wound and the compounds in it will help your injury to heal faster." Ash reminded.

Ponyta whined at Ash, not at all convinced by the trainer's explanation after having the potion sprayed on his leg. Aurora yipped at the colt cheerfully and nudged the potion bottle with her nose in an attempt to help sell the fire type on using the potion. Reluctantly, Ponyta meandered over to Ash again and held out its leg again.

"Alright, we'll try that again; but you have to hold still this time." Ash laughed.

Ash pressed the small button on the top of the bottle again to release another light mist of antiseptic on the wound to disinfect it. Ash smiled at the colt before tucking the potion back into his backpack.

"See, all done!" Ponyta whined at Ash and shook like a wet Growlithe. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Ponyta stomped its hooves excitedly and sprinted in a large circle around Ash. Aurora ducked down and slapped the ground before chasing the colt, letting out an occasional playful bark as she chased the fire type.

Ash chuckled at their game.

The more he observed Ponyta, the more he liked the colt and the more he was convinced that Ponyta had to have a trainer. The fire type reminded him a little bit of Aurora in a way – Ponyta had a happy-go-lucky type of personality and a friendly disposition.

Ash reached for his Pokedex and aimed the tablet at the colt in hopes of getting more information about the fire type.

 _Ponyta, the fire horse Pokemon – Ponyta are typically weak at birth to the point where standing up is a difficult task. However, through galloping, their legs are made stronger and tougher. This Pokemon knows the moves Growl, Tackle, Tail Whip, Ember, Flame Charge, Swift, and Skull Bash; and is the male gender. This Pokemon has the ability Flash Fire, which negates fire type attacks._

Ash squinted and double checked to see if he had heard the list of attacks correctly. While he expected that Ponyta would know basic techniques like Growl, Tackle, Tail Whip, Ember, and even advanced techniques like Flame Charge, Ash was shocked to see that Ponyta knew Swift and Skull Bash.

Swift and Skull Bash weren't techniques that Ponyta generally knew, without extensive training or use of technical machines. Either Ponyta belonged to a trainer or the fire type had previously been owned by a trainer and had been released.

Ash figured that it wouldn't hurt to check.

Ponyta whinnied and skidded to a halt upon realizing that Aurora had stopped chasing him to catch her breath. Seeing that the two had stopped playing, Ash took the opportunity to talk to the fire type.

"Ponyta!" Ash called out, motioning for the colt to come over to him with his hand.

The fire type huffed slightly before darting towards Ash at full speed. The trainer from Pallet Town grimaced and held out his arms to try to halt the colt, partially expecting Ponyta to crash into him. Ponyta neighed loudly before planting his hooves in the ground to skid to a halt, mere inches away from Ash.

Finally catching her breath, Aurora followed suit and rushed over to Ash to see what he wanted. The ice type whimpered as she sat down beside Ponyta and tilted her head to glance up at Ash.

"Are you traveling in a group?" Ash asked, pausing briefly before further clarifying his statement. "You know, with other Ponyta and Rapidash."

Ponyta shook his head.

"Do you have a trainer?"

Ponyta winced and held his head down dejectedly, seemingly hurt by the question like the memories were painful for it to remember.

Ash frowned.

He was becoming more and more convinced of his theory that Ponyta had been released by a previous trainer. Ponyta's body language confirmed it.

"How would you like to travel with me and Aurora?"

The fire type whinnied and bounced around excitedly at the suggestion. Aurora whined out of excitement and bounced around in excitement before licking Ash's hand to demonstrate her approval of the plan.

He was a bit surprised, considering that Aurora had shown a bit of distrust towards Ponyta when the fire type first approached them; but whatever disdain she had for the colt had long since disappeared.

Ash grinned as he reached into his backpack in search of one of the Poke Balls he had stored in his backpack after purchasing several of the containment devices from the Viridian City Poke Mart.

"Alright, then it's settled, we'll all travel together!" Ash exclaimed as he continued to rummage through a wad of clothes and random objects he had thrown into his bag. He made a mental note that he would have to organize the contents of his backpack once he got to Pewter City.

The trainer held up the Poke Ball he found triumphantly as he pulled out one of the red and white orbs from his backpack. Pressing the button on the front of the Poke Ball, the capsule expanded to twice its normal size.

"You're probably familiar with this, but this is a Poke Ball – it's a stasis pod for Pokemon to rest in. When you touch this orb, you'll be pulled inside and be officially be registered as my Pokemon. In other words, you'll officially be one of the team!" Ponyta nodded in understanding as Ash set the orb down on the ground in front of the fire type.

Ponyta quickly accepted the offered Poke Ball and tapped the orb with one of his hooves, causing the device to pull the fire type into the orb. Ash watched intently as the red and white sphere wobbled back and forth repeatedly before a loud click indicated that the capture was complete.

Ash knelt down and grabbed the orb. A flash of crimson light shrouded Ponyta's silhouette as Ash tapped the button on the front of Ponyta's Poke Ball to release the fire type from stasis. Ponyta whinnied and bobbed his head at Ash to greet the trainer.

Ash smiled at Ponyta. "Now that you're part of the team, would you like a name?"

The fire type huffed at the question and narrowed his eyes as if to give the question some thought. After taking a few seconds to think, Ponyta bobbed his head excitedly and let out a cheerful whinny.

"Alright, let's see what I can come up with," Ash muttered.

Ash rubbed his chin in thought as he sorted through the names swirling around in his mind. He immediately dumped out all of the commonplace fire type names he could think of such as Firestorm or Pryo.

After taking several minutes to think of a name, Ash's eyes lit up as a name popped into his mind. "How about Orion?" Ash suggested. "If I remember correctly, Orion means mighty or mighty hunter, and also means son of fire."

Ponyta's eyes lit up and bobbed his head excitedly at the name choice.

"Orion it is," Ash grinned.

Aurora let out a cheerful yip to her new teammate and tapped him in the side with her icy nose.

"This is going to be great, the Pewter City gym leader won't even know what hit him! Between you and Orion, we'll get a gym badge for sure!" Ash exclaimed, thrusting his fist up in the air triumphantly.

With the adrenaline rush of making friends with another Pokemon wearing off and the realization that he was still lost returning to him, Ash's grin faded. The trainer from Pallet Town looked around at his surroundings and refocused on the situation at hand.

If Ash and his Pokemon were ever going to challenge the Pewter City gym leader, they would first have to get to Pewter City. Unfortunately, Ash had no idea how they were going to navigate their way through the maze that was Viridian Forest without a clear path to guide them through it and without the aid of his PokeNav.

He frowned. The only real choice that they had was to comb through every inch of the forest until they came across people or found a distinguishable trail.

At least he had good traveling companions by his side to make the trip a little more tolerable.


	3. The Stone Gray City

Ash stretched and took a long shower to try to relieve the stiffness and aching pain in his back, his arms, and his legs. Unfortunately, both the shower and stretches failed to relieve any of his pain.

He figured it wouldn't be that simple.

The human body wouldn't recover from nearly a week's worth of traveling overnight. It took time for strained muscles to heal from prolonged use and he had certainly used them.

Ash shuddered at the memory of Viridian Forest.

He and his team spent five days in the forest, desperately searching for a way out from the endless maze of trees. Fortunately, they managed to find their way out of the forest even if it took far longer than any of them desired.

He was glad to be back in civilization. As much as he enjoyed exploring, Ash needed a respite from the wilderness and above all he needed rest. He could only push himself so much and he was beginning to find those limits.

Even after a night's rest in the Pokemon Center, he still felt like he was comatose.

"Mr. Ketchum," a petite woman called out upon emerging from the rear corridors of the Pokemon Center.

He glanced over to the front desk.

Ash shuffled over to the front desk and flashed a smile to the pink-haired physician running the facility. "How are they?" he asked, gesturing to the red and white orbs laying on a tray that Nurse Joy had set on the front counter.

"Your Pokemon are in good shape, although they still seem a bit fatigued. I'm assuming that you traveled quite a long distance,"

Ash chuckled inwardly. She didn't know the half of it.

"Yeah, we spent a few days in Viridian Forest,"

Flashbacks of stumbling through dense underbrush appeared in his mind.

"Well, that would explain the fatigue," Nurse Joy replied with a sympathetic laugh before changing the subject. "Your Vulpix appears to be in good shape despite her fatigue; however, your Ponyta had a minor cut on his leg that showed signs of infection. Judging from the information registered in your Pokedex showing that Ponyta was a recent capture, I'm going to guess that this was a wound that Ponyta had prior to you capturing it or one inflicted when trying to capture it."

"That would be correct," Ash confirmed. "When I caught Ponyta I noticed that he had a cut on his leg, I applied some potion to the injury but I didn't know how long he had the wound or if the wound needed any further treatment."

"The incision doesn't seem to be anything major and I applied some potions and full restore to the injured leg to help repair the damaged tissue. I also gave Ponyta a few doses of potion that is taken orally to help fight off the infection. Ponyta's leg should be completely healed up in a day or so, but I still suggest that you administer a daily dose of potion just as an extra precaution against the infection."

"I'll make sure to do that." Ash replied.

Nurse Joy smiled and handed Ash a small sheet of paper. He gave her a perplexed look as he took the paper from her.

"It's a prescription," Nurse Joy explained. "You should be able to turn it in at the Poke Mart for a vial of max potion."

Ash nodded, neatly folding the paper up and shoving it into pocket.

He definitely didn't want to lose the prescription. Max potions were impossible to acquire without a prescription. Apparently, medicine as potent as max potions were expensive to manufacture and the league felt that the use of the medicines as potent as max potions needed to be monitored to prevent health defects.

Besides, Ash didn't want to risk having Orion's infection get worse or hinder the fire type's health in any manner and the potion would definitely aid in making sure the Ponyta was one-hundred percent healthy.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy," Ash muttered as he clipped Aurora and Orion's Poke Balls to his belt.

"Of course," she smiled, turning her attention to one of the shelves near the wall. "You asked about a package?"

"Yeah, I was told that a package would be waiting for me here at the Pokemon Center," Ash answered.

The physician shuffled over to a row of bookcases near the wall that functioned as mail organizers and glanced over the packages on the shelves before settling on one of the packages on the top shelf. "Here we are!" Nurse Joy chirped, pulling the package off the shelf and setting it on the counter in front of Ash.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy!" Ash examined the label on the box to verify that the package Nurse Joy had given him was the correct parcel. The trainer from Pallet Town scooped up the package and raised his brow out of curiosity – whatever had been sent to him inside the notebook-sized box was incredibly light.

He couldn't wait to open it.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" Nurse Joy asked.

"What can you tell me about the Pewter Museum of Science?" Ash replied, tucking the package inside his backpack.

Nurse Joy smiled. "Where should I start?" she asked.

/

People had nicknamed the town "The Stone Gray City" and now that he saw the place for himself, Ash understood why.

Most of the buildings in Pewter City appeared to be constructed from stone or a derivative of stone; and were gray. The forms that the gray stone took, however, varied tremendously from building to building.

The majority of the buildings were cobblestone cottages and brick buildings, but several tall office buildings towered over the houses and businesses of Pewter.

Fortunately, the building that Ash was searching for was easy to distinguish from the other buildings. Not only was the Pewter Museum of Science one of the largest buildings in the city, but its beige exterior also made the museum stand out from the drab grays of Pewter City.

Ash hesitated upon reaching his destination. Judging by the crowds of people entering and exiting the museum, the museum was fairly busy.

He was certain the place would be packed.

Ash frowned.

Nurse Joy had told him that the museum was a tourist attraction and that it tended to be busy, so he wasn't completely surprised by the crowds. That said, Ash began to wonder if he had picked an optimal time to visit the museum and if coming back at later date would make the experience more enjoyable.

He shrugged off the idea virtually as soon as it came to him. He doubted that a tourist attraction as large as this would have a period when it wasn't busy. He didn't really mind the crowds either. Since he spent so much time away from civilization, some normalcy was a welcome change.

And he had time to kill.

He completed all his errands.

He picked up Orion's prescription from the Pewter City Poke Mart and did some light shopping. His only remaining task in Pewter City was challenging the Pewter City gym, and he wasn't ready to take on the gym quite yet.

He and his team had a lot to work on before they were anywhere near ready to take on the gym.

Besides, there was more to life than just wandering the wilderness, training, and battling. What was the point of stopping in a town if not for sightseeing?

He planned on visiting the museum during his stop in Pewter City since his mother had mentioned it, but desired to visit the museum even more after Nurse Joy told him more about it.

There was tons of stuff to see that stoked his interest ranging from the space exploration exhibits to the fossils, but above all else he was excited to visit the Mt. Moon meteorite collection. He certainly hadn't expected it to open so suddenly, especially when the project was so recent.

However, Nurse Joy had beamed about it during her conversation with Ash and an email he received recently from his mother informed him that the findings of the Mt. Moon excavation were to be displayed for the public immediately.

He knew he had to go. He had to look at what the expedition had accomplished and see what his mother had been a part of.

Judging by the long line of people waiting to get in the museum, he wasn't the only person that wanted to tour the museum.

The thirteen-year old found a spot in line and tapped his foot on the ground impatiently. He took a deep breath, he was going to be waiting for a while.

He just hoped that the museum exhibits were worth the wait.

* * *

The museum wasn't at all what he was expecting, if anything, it far exceeded his expectations.

Ash expected the ticket prices to be high, but received quite a pleasant surprise. Instead of the usual rate of fifty dollars, the museum was only charging half the usual rate to encourage people to visit the newly installed Mt. Moon meteorite collection.

He was surprised by how nice the museum's interior was.

The beige marble floors, fancy decorative tile ceilings, and the spacious halls indicated that no expense had been spared for the museum's interior. However, those surprises paled in comparison to the next surprises in store for him, for they were far bigger than just aesthetics of a building and price of admittance.

The faint squeak of his tennis shoes echoed through the hallway until he came to a halt upon entering a large, open room. He felt his heart skip a beat from excitement and a grin formed on his face.

The first exhibit alone was worth the price of admission and worth the wait.

Ash's eyes fixated on the statues in the middle of the room and found himself unable to pull his attention away from the statues. The tall, bronze statues were amazing, not merely because of the material that they were made of or their height; but because of who and what they represented.

Ash eyed the first statue on the far left from head to toe. The bronze figure stood in a dignified posture with its right arm extended out to its side.

The statue looked exactly as Ash pictured him when reading about him in history textbooks at school and in novels. His posture oozed confidence, his grin made him appear confident, and he stood exactly where Ash expected the man to be – in the midst of his Pokemon.

Ash shook his head as his eyes shifted to the golden plaque in front of the statue that explaining who the statue was built to honor and the historical background of who the statue represented.

Haruko Saito, the Shodai Champion and founder of the Indigo League, did not need an introduction. His life story was passed down from generation to generation and would continue to be passed down as long as there were people alive to talk about his exploits.

Schoolchildren were educated about how Haruko worked to unite the quarreling territories of Kanto, created a government to establish order in the region, fought alongside his brother to squash a violent coup started by the very people that he entrusted to help him govern, and was one of only two champions that had been elected to the position of champion.

Ash's eyes darted over to the three Pokemon standing beside the statue. Each of them exuded confidence just like the Shodai himself.

The first Pokemon, a reptilian quadruped, towered over the rest of the team to reflect its importance to the group.

Ash found that it was only proper that Tsukene be elevated to the status that he was since the Venusaur was the Shodai's closest companion and the cornerstone of his team.

Tsukene was the first Pokemon that the Shodai had befriended and was the first to utilize the Frenzy Plant technique. In fact, the Venusaur had done far more than merely create the technique – Tsukene turned Frenzy Plant into an art.

While many modern "masters" of Frenzy Plant studied the technique and taught Pokemon the ancient technique, the modern Frenzy Plant was nothing more than a cheap knockoff of Tsukene's technique.

Tsukene didn't just cause roots to spring up from the ground and crash into an opponent like the modern variation of Frenzy Plant, he generated plant life and controlled the plant life to turn it into a weapon.

And unlike the Pokemon of the modern era who were only capable of using their watered down Frenzy Plant a few times before tiring out, he was capable of doing so endlessly.

Ash's eyes shifted to the second Pokemon statue standing to the right of the Shodai. The bronze statue resembling a living mass of tangled vines didn't appear very significant or intimidating, but those that knew the story of Haruko knew that Tsuru was not inferior to any Pokemon.

The Tangrowth was a ruthless fighter whose strength rivaled that of Tsukene. While the creature didn't have the ability to wield Frenzy Plant like Tsukene, Tsuru's ability to utilize his vines to bind and throw foes more than made up for his inability to wield Frenzy Plant.

Tsuru often toyed with his opponents by dousing them with various spores before binding them and tossing them around like ragdolls. The grass type treated his battles like a cruel game and dished out attacks with sadistic pleasure more commonly affiliated with Magmar, Weavile, and packs of Mightyena.

Ash's eyes shifted to the left of Tsuru, fixating on the final member of Haruko's team. He snickered at the dismayed expression sculpted on the statue's face. As comical as the expression looked, he wouldn't have been surprised at all if the portly, egg-shaped Pokemon had scowled many times at the rest of the team.

Chunsainin, the peacemaker, was a pacifist at heart that despised the brutality of war.

While the other members of Haruko's team focused on pulverizing their opponents, Chunsainin generally focused on healing the wounds of both her comrades and those that they subdued. Ash could imagine Tsukene and Tsuru brutally beating their opponents into submission and Chunsainin staring at the carnage in dismay, inwardly hoping that the grass types would stop.

Pokemon were said to reflect the personalities of their trainers the longer they traveled with them and despite the vast differences in personality between the three Pokemon, the close-knit family reflected their patriarch with each of the Pokemon holding to a particular aspect of Haruko.

Tsukene embodied the first champion's honor, levelheadedness, and courage; Tsuru embodied Haruko's forcefulness and impatience; and Chunsainin embodied the Shodai's kindness, tranquility, and desire for peace.

Alone they were strong, but as a group they were unstoppable. They knew each other's strengths and covered each other's weaknesses. The group had fought together for so long that they had memorized each others movements and tendencies, and moved in sync with each other in battle. Each member of the group knew where they needed to be and when they needed to intervene on one of their teammates' behalf.

Whenever the Shodai and his family fought, they literally fought as one.

Ash glanced down at the Poke Balls clipped to his belt. He wished that he could let his Pokemon out of their Poke Balls to look at the statues. He wanted his team to be able to see the statues themselves as a teaching moment to show them what he desired that they become.

While he doubted that he and his team would likely never face anything even remotely close to the perilous situations the Shodai had faced in his lifetime – Ash definitely doubted that he would have to stop a coup against the league anytime soon – he and his team would still need to work together well if they were going to win their first gym battle, let alone win the Indigo League.

His thoughts gradually shifted to exploring the rest of the museum as he finally managed to pry his eyes away from the statues of the first champion and his team.

Ash skimmed over the various maps of Kanto and artwork depicting early Kanto while meandering his way towards the next exhibit room, pausing occasionally to further examine particular pieces that would catch his eye.

The differences between ancient Kanto and modern Kanto were rather striking. He had learned of the differences between modern Kanto and ancient Kanto, but reading something and seeing the differences were two entirely different things.

And the differences were quite noticeable.

Besides the obvious influence of technology upon society, there were many other noticeable differences between the Kanto that he had grown up in and the Kanto region of long ago. The size of the towns stood out heavily.

Ancient Kanto lacked the infrastructure and metropolises of modern Kanto. Whereas modern Kanto was composed of bustling suburbs, crowded urban shopping centers, and tourist attractions, ancient Kanto consisted of small villages that operated separately from one another.

Even the larger towns with economies that revolved around trade and business like Celadon, Vermilion, Saffron, and Cerulean City were much smaller compared to their modern counterparts and their attention was focused on local interests.

The cities were also surrounded by untamed wilderness.

With the towns being focused on local interests and having little to no interaction with each other –outside of feuds and wars over territory – there simply wasn't a need for paths and roads since travel to another town was rare.

In historical context, it made sense, even if the pictures were surprising. The bulk of the Kanto region's growth didn't happen until Haruko united the region as a nation-state, gave the region a new identity, and helped the region to discover its economic potential beyond territories.

The tapping of footsteps, both Ash's own and of the other tourists wandering about, echoed through the corridor as he reached the next exhibit room.

Ash raised his brow.

He knew that the museum had a collection of fossils, but he hadn't expected anything like what he was seeing. Glass cases spanned the room as far as the eye could see. Everything from skeletal remains to Pokemon fossilized in stone had been placed inside the display cases.

Ash weaved his way though the crowds as he made his way to the next exhibit, occasionally peeking into the display cases of fossils and skeletons.

Skeletons of Pidgey, Spearow, and Ratatta weren't terribly exciting no matter how old they supposedly were.

A quick glimpse into the one of the cases made Ash freeze in place. Were the rocks really what he thought they were? Further examination confirmed his suspicions. Several plaques inside the display case helped further identify what the chunks of rock were and more importantly what was embedded inside the stones.

Ash whipped out his Pokedex and skimmed through the data entry in the Pokedex contained on the creature. Satisfied with the information, he tucked the tablet back into his pocket.

For the most part, information about prehistoric Pokemon was sketchy at best and the field of paleontology hadn't reaped that many rewards over the years. Most considered the history of prehistoric Pokemon to be a mystery, and a mystery lost to the ages at that.

What little was known was constantly in flux and was heavily debated by the scientific community. And that wasn't even counting the debates on when prehistoric Pokemon roamed the earth.

Scientists had argued for years about the age of fossilized Pokemon, each of them arguing a different length of time ranging from a few thousand years to a few hundred thousand years all the way to millions upon millions of years.

To be completely honest, even the Pokedex's entries on prehistoric were really just limited facts and the latest flavor of the day hypothesis.

Regardless, what Ash did know was that the creature preserved within the stone was very old. Kabuto were anywhere from a hundred thousand to three hundred million years old depending upon the scientist that you asked.

If the information on Kabuto was to be believed, Kabuto were territorial Pokemon that treated anything that entered their domain with hostility that easily matched Krabby and Kingler.

The dome Pokemon were said to be amphibious and supposedly lived by the sea. Their shells provided them with natural armor that defended them against attackers and would be predators.

Ash's eyes darted down to a chunk of limestone inside the case containing a spiraled shell with thin spikes protruding from the top. He smirked, he assumed that the case was organized to contain both rival Pokemon. While Kabuto had few predators, Omanyte were the exception to the rule.

Omanyte were allegedly the reason Kabutops became a species. Omanyte were the ideal predator of shellfish Pokemon. Omanyte would ensnare its prey with their strong front tentacles and their jawed beaks allowed them to break even the strongest of shells.

Now that he gave it more thought, Ash found it miraculous that there were any Kabuto fossils left. Predators of Omanyte's status could have easily lowered the population of its prey. Whereas Aerodactyl ruled the skies of prehistoric Kanto, Omanyte ruled the seas.

Ash briefly wondered how the creatures hold up against Pokemon in the modern era. He imagined that the shellfish could at least hold their own against species like Wartortle. He supposed if the scientific community was serious about their of claims of reviving prehistoric Pokemon trainers would soon see the strength of the ancient Pokemon.

He continued through the museum. There were still plenty of things left to explore.

He stopped upon reaching a museum directory and skimmed over the map of the building. Ash pointed at the museum directory and traced an imaginary line in the air to the rooms he had been in and the room he was standing in.

He supposed that he could visit the next exhibit in the room adjacent to the fossil exhibit, although there wasn't much in an evolutionary stone exhibit that Ash hadn't already seen at least once in his life. Professor Oak constantly received shipments of evolutionary stones at the lab for various research projects.

He checked the directory again and looked to the complete opposite side of the building. The space exhibit was a tad bit more interesting, but he didn't feel like backtracking.

He figured that the space exhibit was something he could visit on his way out. That left him with one more place he could visit. Ash glanced over at a hallway over by the far left side of the room that led to a flight of stairs.

The Mt. Moon meteorite exhibit awaited him.

He followed a few other people that were thinking what he was and grinned as he climbed up the stairs. The second floor was just as eloquent as the first floor and there were no noticeable differences in decor.

He smiled at the sight of the meteorites. Glass cases full of dull gray stone were scattered about as far as the eye could see.

To the average person, the jagged chunks of space debris weren't much to look at and wouldn't mean a whole lot; but to Ash they were as valuable as chunks of gold.

The rocks inside the case weren't just meteors, but meteors excavated by his mother. She had the opportunity to participate in a landmark discovery pertaining to mega evolution.

Not much was known about mega evolution, since the process was only recently discovered while archaeologists were investigating sites connected to the war in ancient Kalos.

Professor Sycamore of Kalos practically dedicated his life to research on mega evolution. However, even after three to four years of investigation, Sycamore had very little information and even fewer discoveries.

Aside from the fact that the process allowed certain Pokemon to temporarily access more advanced forms of themselves, not much was known about the process. So far the scientific community's findings and conclusions were shoddy at best.

He wondered how long the mystery surrounding mega evolution would last in light of this discovery.

If nothing else came from the discovery, the fact that the energy signatures weren't exclusive to Kalos would shed more light on mega evolution; but the energy signatures and the meteor's place of origin couldn't be a coincidence.

If he thought of that theory, he imagined researchers far smarter than himself had already made the connection, especially with reports of similar findings in Hoenn.

He smiled at the random thought that popped into his mind as he stared at the meteors inside the glass case.

In theory, each species of Pokemon were capable of mega evolution. It made him wonder if he would ever be able to see a mega evolved Alolan Ninetales firing blasts of ice or a mega evolved Rapidash darting around.

He shook off the thought as he did one last pass through the meteor exhibit and made his way back down the stairs. Visiting the museum had definitely been worth his time.

* * *

 _Salty. Spicy. Too salty, too spicy! Boiling hot!_

Hot tears ran down his cheeks and fell to the ground. He huffed and puffed to try cool off his mouth. It wasn't working.

Ash fumbled for his water bottle and gulped down some water, causing the burning sensation in his mouth to subside if only by a small amount. The trainer eyed his bowl warily. Definitely not a pleasant experience, and not one he wanted to ever experience again.

Stupid miso ramen – he hadn't expected the stuff to be nearly as spicy or as salty. It certainly wasn't anything like the stuff his mother made. His mother's spicy miso ramen had a nice kick to it, but wasn't like eating the flames of Moltres.

He glanced over at his cafeteria tray. He hoped that the grilled fish would be better.

Ash glowered, placing the bowl of ramen on the ground beside him. A set of sky-blue eyes stared up at him in concern.

He waved Aurora off. "It's okay, the soup was just a little hot."

The snowy fox puffed out a wisp of cold air from her mouth aimed at the bowl of soup before nudging the bowl towards him with her nose.

He laughed. "Thanks, but I don't think just cooling it off will make it better. It's really spicy and salty." Ash paused. "You can try some if you'd like."

Aurora sniffed the bowl of soup and flinched.

 _Chooo!_

The ice type recoiled from her sneeze and backed away from the dish.

"So I'm guessing you don't want any either?"

Aurora shook her head and scampered over to her food dish.

Ash smirked as she returned to the game she had created to amuse herself. A faint snap echoed from inside Aurora's food bowl as she pressed her left paw into the dish to break the ice she had created from freezing the water in her food dish.

Coming to discover that the fox didn't like dry Pokemon food, he had started to add water to her food. Being the curious Pokemon she was, Aurora had taken a liking to toying with the water.

Every few seconds she would blow wisps of arctic air into the bowl to create a thin layer of ice on the water's surface only to break the ice and tap the water underneath the ice with her paws. She also began to experiment with various ways to crack the ice.

Occasionally she would pounce on it and other times she would simply slap the ice with one of her front paws.

Watching her break the ice in the bowl was fun to watch and he found the habit adorable. Plus, she wasn't really doing anything wrong so he couldn't bring himself to correct her and spoil her fun.

He actually wished he had a video camera. It was a shame that the Pokenav couldn't take photos or video. This was the second perfect photo opportunity that he was missing out on – the first involving the exhibits at the Pewter City Museum that he wanted to show Aurora and Orion.

Speaking of the Ponyta...

A flicker of orange light circled the perimeter of the battlefield. Aurora wasn't the only one who found a game to stay occupied with. After finishing his Pokemon food, the horse had taken to sprinting around the outside perimeter of the battlefield like it was a racetrack.

Ash noticed that Orion definitely liked to run. The fire type took the opportunity to do so every time he let out of his Poke Ball. His running speed was incredible to watch. He looked like a star in the night sky.

It was certainly fitting given his name. The Ponyta burned just as bright as the constellation after which he was named.

Ash had yet to begin any "official training" with the horse Pokemon such as honing techniques and going over gym battle strategies since he wanted to help the horse open up to him and Aurora before getting Orion involved in training and battling.

That being said, Orion took the initiative to train himself through long sprints.

His exercises clearly demonstrated three things: His leg injury wasn't bothering him even without having yet used the antibiotic, he was a very fast Pokemon, and he had a high work ethic.

All three of those things were positives that Ash could work with.

It also helped that Orion meshed well with him and Aurora. The fire type was at ease around him and Aurora, and seemed to enjoy playing with Aurora. He would spend hours playing tag with Aurora, even if the ice type didn't enjoy it quite as much as her teammate.

While Aurora liked to play, she simply didn't have anywhere near the stamina that Orion had. The fire type was a big ball of energy. He simply didn't seem to get tired. He could run for hours and hours. Ash was convinced that Orion could run a Vigoroth ragged.

Despite them being on good terms, Ash still hadn't broached the subject of Orion's previous trainer. Although at some point he planned on asking Orion about his previous trainer once he felt Orion was ready to talk about it.

Ash figured it wouldn't hurt to know the story behind what happened. Not only would it give him more perspective into Orion's personality so Ash could understand the fire type better, but it would also give Ash an idea of how much battling experience Orion had.

Orion had a handful of techniques that could only be learned by TM or extensive training, which either hinted that Ponyta had experience battling or techniques that were way too advanced for him were given to him by an inexperienced trainer.

Of course, Ash didn't even want to think about the third possibility. Incompetence wasn't the only reason Pokemon were given TMs that they weren't anywhere near ready to handle. If you were a trainer that only viewed Pokemon as a weapon...

He shrugged off the depressing thoughts and called out for his Pokemon. Now was not the time for that talk.

Prying themselves away from their games, Aurora and Orion shuffled over to their trainer and looked up at him attentively.

"Alright, I know I promised that we'd start going over some things for our first gym battle, are you guys still ready to do that?" Ash cleared his throat. "I mean, I don't want to push you if you both aren't ready to face the gym or aren't ready to start training. That trip through Viridian Forest was long. I was thinking we could run through some light exercises and start the rest of the training in a day or two."

Orion snorted at the idea. The restless fire type stomped his hooves on the ground and voiced his disapproval with a sharp whinny. Aurora followed suit by voicing her own disapproval with a loud growl and an indignant look on her face.

Ash sighed. Nurse Joy had told him that the two needed a day or two of rest, but it appeared that they were having none of it.

He supposed that psyching his team up for the gym battle and setting their focus on future goals of becoming champions while wandering about the forest hadn't helped. They hadn't really gotten a chance to battle while they were traveling through Viridian Forest and now both of them were likely itching to hone to show off their skills.

In the end it worked to his favor, they had a lot that they needed to figure out before the gym battle. "Alright, let's get started! I want you to start with warm-ups after that we'll gradually work our way up from there!"

Ash motioned for his team to follow him as he jogged towards the chalk line of the battlefield. "I know you'll enjoy this one," he said, grinning at Orion. "We'll start with a light jog to get our muscles loosened up."

Orion whinnied his approval before trotting alongside Ash. Not willing to be left behind, Aurora scampered towards them using Agility to enhance her running ability. "Five laps!" Ash exclaimed, leading the way for his team and making a right turn at the first corner of the battlefield. "After that we'll start on strategy and work on techniques!"

* * *

Bright flickers of light manifested themselves in the form of stars around a violet feline-like creature and whizzed towards its opponent. Despite the Jolteon's attempt at dodging the technique, the energy constructs turned and locked onto its opponent once more before slamming into the canine's side.

"Biometric tracking," he muttered under his breath.

Ash replayed the video, carefully examining each second of footage. He tucked away his Pokedex in his pocket and looked up at Orion. "Try it again, if you would."

Orion tensed up and channeled an immense amount of focus into trying to generate an attack. Flickers of light no larger than a marble formed from Orion's mane of flame. Before the fire type could push the star-shaped constructs of energy forward with a weak pulse of telekinetic power, the stars fizzled out as quickly as they had formed.

Ash frowned and crossed his arms. It still wasn't working. Orion could generate the energy constructs needed for Swift, but maintaining them and launching them was another story.

Ponyta simply wasn't ready to handle the technique.

Then again, Swift wasn't a typical technique. Generating the energy constructs was the easy part for a Pokemon. It was adding the biometric components that allowed the technique to lock onto a foe and firing the attack off that was the difficult part.

While all Pokemon had some sort of rudimentary ability with the art of telekinesis in some form or another, trying to hone telekinetic abilities was much more of a challenge for some Pokemon. Pokemon that were physical attackers often had slight difficulty learning the mental arts.

Orion brayed in frustration and stomped his hooves like a child throwing a tantrum, clearly upset at his inability to use Swift. Ash reached his hand out to the disgruntled fire type, only for the fire type push his hand away. "Don't worry, you'll get it eventually. It takes time to learn a new technique."

Orion let out an irritated whinny, refusing to look Ash in the eyes. "Come on, you did pretty good. It took you a while, but you eventually figured out how to form the energy constructs. I'd say that's solid progress. We just can't figure out how to use the telekinetic abilities needed to launch the attack."

Orion snorted. Bright star-shaped constructs of energy formed from Ponyta's fiery mane. The fire type voiced his excitement as he tried to fire off the energy blasts. Much like during the previous attempts, the energy constructs disintegrated instantly upon Orion's attempt to launch them.

The fire type grumbled again and thrashed about in fury.

Ash made a quick mental note. Orion wasn't patient and didn't handle adversity all that well. It would be something to file away for future reference when training with Orion in the future.

Trying to get Orion to perfect Swift wasn't going anywhere good. It was only making the fire type frustrated and Ash didn't want to find out just exactly how riled up Orion would get if he got completely enraged. "How about we try something else?!" Ash suggested. "We haven't tried Flame Charge yet."

Orion huffed at the trainer and scraped the ground with his front hoof in protest. Ash crossed his arms and sighed.

He sympathized with Orion. Learning a new skill wasn't easy. He had substantial difficulty learning chemistry and algebra during his time in school. It took lots of time studying with Professor Oak and his mother before he finally understood them.

He definitely understood why the fire type was upset. Not only had Orion failed miserably at using Skull Bash, which looked like nothing more than a basic tackle attack, but he had failed at Swift. Most of the attacks in Orion's arsenal were unusable to him so far and require much more training before they were even remotely viable in battle.

It also didn't help that only a few feet away Aurora was firing off Moonblasts and blasts of cold air while Orion struggled to use anything stronger than an Ember attack. Despite Orion and Aurora's friendship, the fire type was more than a little jealous of how effortlessly Aurora was able to learn and perform attacks if the Ponyta's glares at the fox were anything to go by.

"Come on, we haven't tried Flame Charge yet."

The fire type grunted, watching Aurora fire a pink sphere of light up into the air out of the corner of his eye. Orion stomped his hooves in determination and charged forward, ready to move onto the next task.

Ash smirked.

He knew for sure that the no matter how long it took that Orion was going to master Flame Charge. The fire type had too much pride not to at least succeed in using one of his advanced techniques.

A bead of sweat rolled down Ash's forehead. The air was beginning to heat up. Orion's mane burned brighter and a multitude of crackling embers sparked to life around the fire type while he sprinted forward.

It wasn't much, but it was a start. "Alright, try it again!"

Orion veered to his left and turned around to give himself a chance to pick up speed. Unlike his first try with the technique, his second try was much more successful. Small plumes of flame roared to life and shrouded Orion as he charged forward with his blinding speed.

Ash felt his heart flutter in excitement. He didn't need his Pokedex to tell him that Orion was performing the attack correctly. The wisps of flame spoke for themselves. "Good job, you've got it!"

A bright orange blur of light streaked past Ash towards the other side of the battlefield. He shielded his eyes. It hurt to look at Orion while the flames engulfed the fire type's body.

Orion slowed to make another U-turn once he reached the other side of the battlefield. The horse let the flames around him die down. Orange embers floated up into the air like sparks leaping from a sparkler. Galloping back towards the other end of the battlefield, Orion's cloak of fire sprung to life again.

"Again!" Ash exclaimed.

As Orion turned to make another mad dash for the other side of the battlefield, Ash flipped through the apps on his Pokenav before settling on the stopwatch function. Watching the fire type run made Ash want to see just how fast Orion was running.

The moment the fire type took off, Ash tapped the start button on the touchscreen of the Pokenav.

 _One, two, three..._

Ash blinked, mouth agape. It took him moment to process what had happened, but once his mind processed the information he reached out and tapped his Pokenav's touch screen to stop the stopwatch. Orion had already finished his sprint.

Ash knew that Orion was fast, but three seconds was too fast a time even for Orion. He tapped the Pokenav again to reset the stopwatch and prepared to time Orion again. The second Orion turned around to run back towards the other side of the battlefield, Ash tapped the start button again.

Seeing Orion skid to a halt at the other side of the battlefield, Ash tapped the touch screen to stop the timer and glanced down to see the time on the stopwatch.

His eyes widened. The trainer shook his head, barely able to believe the numbers on the screen.

It simply wasn't possible. It had to be some sort of operator error. Orion shouldn't have been able to move at that fast a speed. He shouldn't have been able to tie his past mark, let alone beat it.

 _2.5 seconds?_

That was the type of speed that prize Ponyta and Rapidash ran at the track in a one-hundred meter dash. It definitely was an improvement. The fastest time Ash had clocked previously was six seconds, give or take; although during those runs Orion hadn't been using Flame Charge.

He suspected that the technique had something to do with the increase in speed, but he couldn't confirm his theory without looking into Flame Charge more. He would have to check his Pokedex for more information on the technique.

Ash grinned at Orion. "Nice work out there, you've really got the hang of that."

Orion bobbed his head, letting out a soft grumble to express his pride. Ash reached out and stroked Orion's side.

His team was making progress and that was all that mattered. He couldn't guarantee the outcome of challenging Brock, but he would do all that he could to make sure his team was ready to give Brock a run for his money.

"I want you to continue working with Flame Charge while I'm working with Aurora, later we'll work on your accuracy with Ember."

Orion brayed in acknowledgment before returning to his training.

Ash turned to look at Aurora and snickered at the ice type. The ice type scampered back and forth, sliding across a patch of ice on the battlefield. He smirked at her game. Aurora definitely knew how to keep herself occupied.

He raised his brow – now that was something he could use.

* * *

Ash halted in front of the door of a building and gave the building a once over. The Pewter City gym wasn't much to look at and the building didn't stand out from the rest of the town's buildings. If anything, its slate gray exterior helped the gym blend in and made the gym appear boring.

Ash chuckled. The design reflected the Pewter City gym leader perfectly. Brock wasn't flashy, boisterous, or "exciting" like other gym leaders; however, it was his stoic personality that made him dangerous. Brock's maturity and calm demeanor made it easy to underestimate him.

Underestimating Brock was a big mistake. While the gym leader tended to hold back against rookies and avoided using his strongest six Pokemon, even his secondary Pokemon were tough.

Brock was more than capable of reminding trainers of why he had finished in the top eight at the Indigo Conference in his first year as a trainer. Beneath his facade was a burning competitive spirit and unwavering determination.

Like father, like son, he supposed.

Ash stiffened his jaw and stepped forward. He wouldn't be like the trainers that underestimated Brock. He and his team had put in far more work than the average trainer in preparation for this moment. He was not going to lose because he was ready.

A loud hum echoed through the air as the automated doors opened up, allowing Ash to enter the dimly lit gym.

He eyed wisps of mist wafting through the air from his breath. The inside of the gym was colder than he expected to the point that he felt goosebumps forming on his skin.

His footsteps echoed through the room as he walked up to a desk in the corner of the room. A boy younger than Ash with spiky brown hair and narrowed eyes flashed him a quick smile. "How may I help you?"

"I'm here to challenge the gym leader." Ash answered, his voice exuding a stoic tone.

The boy glanced down at a sheet of paper on the desk, absentmindedly rubbing his chin while he examined the document. Ash tapped his foot on the floor waiting for the boy to explain himself.

The young boy perked up. "You're the first trainer to visit us today, the gym leader should be able to take you up on your challenge right away!" The boy pointed to a dark corridor. "Head down that hallway and you'll find the gym arena."

"Thank you," Ash replied with a smile of his own.

Ash held his breath in anticipation as he strolled through the hallway.

He hesitated momentarily – the sound of his footsteps had changed as had the texture of the floor beneath him. Ash glanced down at the floor, straining his eyes to try to see the floor.

He raised an eyebrow. The floor was no longer flat and smooth, but bumpy and jagged.

Bright lights lit up the room, blinding Ash momentarily as he lost his night vision. Once his eyes started to adjust, he focused his gaze on the teenage boy standing across the room from him with his back turned to him.

"So, I'm going to guess that you're a challenger!"

Ash frowned. The gym leader's tone was harsh – far harsher than he expected.

"Well, don't you have anything to say?!"

He clenched his fists, feeling a familiar surge of adrenaline pumping through his veins. "I am Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and I'm here to challenge you!" he exclaimed.

"You're here to challenge me?" The man echoed. "What makes you think that you won't fail like so many others before you?"

"I don't know if I'll fail to beat you; but I do know that I and my team have been training hard to prepare for this battle. Win or lose, we're going to give this battle our all." Ash said, an unwavering conviction in his voice.

The gym leader turned around and glared at Ash. He recognized the man instantly by his spiky brown hair, squinted eyes, burnt orange top, and olive cargo pants.

He was about to face Brock.

"We'll see just how well you've trained!" Brock declared as he reached down to his belt and unclipped a Poke Ball from his belt before tapping the button on the front of the orb to cause the device to expand. "How many Pokemon do you have?"

"Two," Ash retorted.

"Then this will be a two vs two battle! Traditional Indigo League rules – no substitutions." Brock declared. "Rhyhorn, go!"

Before Ash could blink, a stocky rhino emerged from the orb and stomped its feet. The trainer from Pallet Town flailed his arms as he wobbled back and forth from the shockwave that Rhyhorn had sent through the ground from stomping its feet.

After regaining his composure from almost falling over, Ash reached into his pocket for his Pokedex and pointed the device at Rhyhorn after pulling it out from his pocket.

 _Rhyhorn – the spikes Pokemon. Rhyhorn are strong, but not very bright, this Pokemon can shatter even a skyscraper with its charging tackles. It is inept at turning because of its four short legs. It can only charge and run in one direction._

Ash smirked at the tidbit of information. It would definitely come in handy since he could use that to knowledge to his advantage.

In fact, Ash already had a lot of knowledge he could use to his advantage. He had studied rock types extensively, trained with his team extensively over the last three days, and researched Brock's Indigo League records in hopes of learning the gym leader's tendencies.

He could handle Rhyhorn. Its brute strength was intimidating, but strength would only get you so far. The trick to beating Brock was fighting smarter and that was something he could do.

He wound up like a pitcher. "Orion, you're up!"

A familiar glowing figure appeared on the battlefield and voiced his pride with a loud whinny.

Brock crossed his arms. "A fire type, huh? Interesting choice, but a foolish one. Fire types have very little that they can do against an armored Pokemon like Rhyhorn, especially one like Ponyta. Rhyhorn is not a Pokemon that can be blitzed."

Ash snorted.

Did Brock take him for an idiot? He knew that Orion had no chance at winning via a blitz. He had a strategy and it didn't involve sweeping Rhyhorn. They would be in this for the long haul.

"So who gets the first attack?" Ash asked, anxious to begin.

* * *

Two humanoid Pokemon looming in the shadows caught Ash's attention. The trainer reached for his Pokedex before a protective barrier of light flared up around the battlefield, bathing the battlefield with a neon yellow glow.

Ash winced and rubbed away the stars in his eyes. He recognized the glow of the mental barriers from years of watching Pokemon League matches to know what the walls of light were and their likely source. Brock apparently had some powerful psychic type Pokemon keeping an eye on the battlefield.

It wasn't terribly surprising, most gyms and other league sponsored battle events kept some Alakazam on hand for the very purpose of creating barriers.

Ash shook off his wandering thoughts and refocused on the upcoming match. What was taking Brock so long? Was the gym leader waiting for Ash to attack first? Was Brock even going to attack? All doubt of whether or not Brock and Rhyhorn were ready to battle was dispelled by Brock's booming voice. "Horn Attack!"

 _Whump, whump, whump!_

Rhyhorn's thunderous footsteps rattled the gym and the rock type rumbled towards Orion.

"Don't let Rhyhorn hit you, it's practically a living battering ram. Use your speed to avoid Rhyhorn's attacks, it can't change directions very easily so your speed gives you an advantage. If you see an opportunity, hit it with Ember. It won't do much, but it's better than any of our other options. If it gets too close use Flame Charge to get out of its way." Ash instructed, keeping his voice at a dull whisper to prevent tipping off his strategy to Brock.

Orion whinnied in reply. Ash held his breath and counted the seconds mentally. He hoped to get some sort of gauge on Rhyhorn's speed. Rhyhorn weren't speed burners like Ponyta or Rapidash; but Ash heard Rhyhorn were used in races. Rhyhorn supposedly had straight-line speed; and Ash wanted to know how much time he and Orion had to react.

He counted the seconds mentally. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven...

Orion coalesced himself in a cocoon of weak flames and veered out of Rhyhorn's path. Ash frowned at Orion's knee-jerk reaction. Flame Charge wasn't necessary in that situation, Rhyhorn still had ground to cover before it would ram into Orion.

Orion shifted gears, picking up speed from the surge of adrenaline pumping through his veins from using Flame Charge. The fire type changed his approach from defensive maneuvers to offensive attacks and spewed orange coals from his mouth at Rhyhorn's side.

The coals bounced off Rhyhorn's rugged stone armor and fell harmlessly to the ground. Orion's Ember attack did very little to the rhino. While expected the technique to be nearly useless against Rhyhorn, Ash figured it was worth trying. The only way to figure out what Rhyhorn's strengths and weaknesses were was by testing the rock type with various situations and attacks.

The rhino veered left and made a wide, looping U-turn, confirming the information contained in the Pokedex. Rhyhorn definitely weren't known for great lateral movement and agility.

Brock nodded at Rhyhorn in what Ash assumed to be a command of some sort. The rhino lowered its head as it charged towards Orion again. Orion hesitated momentarily to draw the rhino in closer before he sprinted towards Ash to put some distance between him and his opponent.

Orion shifted direction and charged straight towards his foe before making a quick cut to his right to evade his attacker. The fire type lost his footing on the uneven terrain, but stabilized himself shortly afterwards. Ponyta slowed down momentarily to let Rhyhorn pass him. The horse changed tactics and pursued his foe, trailing behind him and waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Orion capitalized on his opponent's inability to change direction. The fire type's mane of flame and fiery tail burned brighter as he exhaled another barrage of glowing coals from his mouth. Much like the first attempted barrage of embers, the hot coals bounced off of Rhyhorn's stone armor and fell to the ground.

Rhyhorn dug his feet into the ground and slowed down and made another looping turn. The rock type hemmed and huffed at the horse, clearly irritated that it hadn't trampled Orion yet. Rhyhorn lowered its head and charged forward, preparing to ram Orion with its horn.

Orion sidestepped the charging rhino a third time and pelted Rhyhorn with another blast of glowing coals, this time aiming for the rock type's head. Rhyhorn shrugged off the hot ashes and barreled past Orion.

Ash frowned, he expected a bit more of a challenge and some strategy from his opponent. Brock was a top tier trainer when he competed in the Indigo League and an experienced veteran gym leader.

Surely, he had more tricks up his sleeve than simply having Rhyhorn charge Orion endlessly.

"Rhyhorn, change tactics, show them what you're really capable of." Brock stated as if he had read Ash's mind and realized that Ash was underestimating him.

Radiant sparks of silver light pulsed through Rhyhorn's body. Ash winced and raised his hand over his eyes to shield his eyes from the light. He wasn't familiar with the silver light shrouding Rhyhorn, although he imagined that it couldn't have been anything good.

Rhyhorn turned around and barreled towards Orion a fourth time. The Ponyta opted to sprint towards his foe instead of running away and attempted a quick cut to his left. While he narrowly avoided being skewered by the tip of Rhyhorn's horn, he hadn't managed to get out of the rhino's path entirely and the rock type's jagged body scraped Orion's side.

The fire type staggered forward, nearly coming to a complete halt from the sharp ache in his front shoulder. Ash felt his stomach churn from a combination of anxiety and disgust. He hated seeing his Pokemon in pain and Orion was clearly in pain after bumping up against Rhyhorn.

He eyed a large, black mark located on Orion's right front shoulder. If simply brushing up against Rhyhorn produced a bruise the size of a grapefruit, Ash didn't want to know what a direct collision would look like.

Rhyhorn made another looping turn and scraped his front feet across the ground. Ash got the impression that Rhyhorn was going to charge Orion again, but his suspicions were revealed to be incorrect.

"Rhyhorn, Stone Barrage!" Brock stated. His tone was forceful and blunt, but it had an air of certainty to it. By his demeanor, it was clear that Brock was used to his job. Taking on challengers was as natural to Brock as breathing air. It was exactly what Ash had come to expect from a veteran like Brock.

 _Grrr-rhhhr!_

Rhyhorn's furious roar caused the protective barriers around the battlefield to flare up, casting neon light onto the battlefield for a few seconds. The armored rhino stomped the ground with its front legs, causing the ground to tremble in its wake.

Ash grimaced, he found it nearly impossible to stand. He held his arms out, hoping to balance himself; but it did little good. The tremors were too strong and he wound up falling forward, forcing him to use his hands to catch himself.

The battlefield began to shift and two columns of stone rose from the battlefield in front of Rhyhorn. Before Ash could begin to comprehend what was happening, a loud crack echoed through the gym. The pillars of earth lifted from the ground, snapped like toothpicks, and shattered into a million shards of jagged rock in an instant.

Pebbles, dust, and chunks of rock rained down around Orion.

The gimped fire type zipped around, trying to avoid being pelted and crushed by the falling debris; however, it proved to be futile for Orion. There was just too much stone flying through the air. Typically falling rocks were bad, but the shards of rock unleashed by Rhyhorn smashing the stone columns he created was far worse.

Many of the splinters of rock were sharp and the sharper stones cut into Orion's flesh, causing the Ponyta to whinny in agony. Ash's face contorted with disgust. He dug his fingernails into his palms. He couldn't stand to see Orion beaten and bloodied like he was; and he certainly did not like the brutality of Brock's "Stone Barrage" technique.

He was surprised that such a technique was even considered legal.

The trainer's hand hovered over Orion's Poke Ball. He heavily considered returning Orion to his Poke Ball. Orion didn't seem like he was in any shape to fight. Blood was dripping from the cuts on his body and the fire type was gasping for air, clearly tired from his mad dash to avoid being hit by the shrapnel of rock.

Brock noticed both Ash's reluctance to continue and Orion's wounds. "Do you give up?" The gym leader snapped, his voice as cold as the stone his gym's battlefield was made of.

"C-Can y-you still fight?" Ash asked, his voice wavering from a combination of excitement and anxiety. Orion stomped his hooves on the ground and whinnied. Ash glanced at the fire type with a skeptical look on his face. "Are you sure?" Ash asked, hesitant to let Orion continue.

Orion huffed in annoyance at Ash's questioning and held his head up in pride. Instead of backing down and accepting the offer of rest inside of his Poke Ball, the fire type stiffened and scraped his front hooves across the ground. Orion made it clear–he wasn't going to quit anytime soon.

Ash sorted through the battle strategies racing through his mind. He had limited options. Ember simply bounced off of Rhyhorn's body; and Orion wasn't capable of using Swift and Ash doubted that it would do much against Rhyhorn anyways. He supposed that he would have to beat Rhyhorn in a physical battle, which was practically suicide since Rhyhorn were practically living tanks. Unfortunately, Ash had little choice in the matter. Nothing was working against Rhyhorn, much in part due to how heat resistant Rhyhorn's armor was.

Unless...

"Heat Rhyhorn up, really heat Rhyhorn up, make it feel like it's standing in a blast furnace." Ash whispered.

The horse glanced back at Ash with a perplexed look on his face that Ash waved off. Reluctantly, the fire type focused on the battle again and tensed up, anxiously awaiting Ash's next command.

"Orion use Ember and don't hold back!" Ash shouted, pointing his index finger straight at Rhyhorn. Although the attack was all but useless against the rock type, taking down Rhyhorn with the attack wasn't his intention.

Orion spewed a plume of flaming ash from his mouth at Rhyhorn's head. The rhino Pokemon grumbled in frustration as the cloud of glowing embers engulfed him and blinded him momentarily. Taking advantage of Rhyhorn's hesitation, Ash shouted out another command.

"Flame Charge!"

An orange cloak of fire sparked to life around Orion before the horse lowered his head and bull rushed his foe. Rhyhorn stamped its feet on the ground and tensed up, not even bothering to evade Orion. A wave of orange and red flames cascaded over Rhyhorn's body and the force of Orion's tackle pushed Rhyhorn backwards.

Rhyhorn shrugged off the technique as if nothing had even happened. Rhyhorn's armor wasn't going to make the battle easy. Ash hoped that Flame Charge would do more. While he hadn't expected it to obliterate Rhyhorn or force the rock type to its knees, he expected it to at least wince from the heat of the flames. Apparently, he would have no such luck.

"Rock Polish," Brock grunted. "Follow it up with Fury Attack!"

"Flame Charge, get in close, then use Ember," Ash stated.

Fire bathed Orion allowing him to pick up speed. The horse spat flaming coals from his mouth at Rhyhorn's face. Rhyhorn shrugged off the glowing ash and flooded his body with bright blue sparks of light once more. Ash flinched slightly out of surprise and took note of the small piles of silt gathered around Rhyhorn's body.

He certainly hadn't noticed silt around the rock type the first time it used the technique.

He didn't have much time to dwell on the thought, Rhyhorn's deafening footsteps forced his mind back into planning what he and Orion would do to counter their opponents' strategy. After the flickers of light surrounding Rhyhorn ended, the rhino charged towards Orion like Rhyhorn had already done multiple times before.

Ash counted the seconds it took for Rhyhorn to reach Orion in his head. _One, two, three..._

He felt his heart sink. "Look out!" he exclaimed, his heart racing in his chest.

Orion took a single step forward and made a quick cut to his left. Rhyhorn thrust its horn forward, only to find that its target was now standing a few inches to its right. Ash let out a sigh of relief. That had been way too close, Orion only avoided being speared by Rhyhorn's horn by the narrowest of margins.

He swore he had more time. Rhyhorn hadn't displayed that sort of speed in the fight earlier.

Ash's eyes widened.

Was Rock Polish a speed enhancing technique? It wasn't out of the realm of possibility. Why else would the rock type have gotten faster?

A flood of other questions raced through his mind. Was Brock's setting up a larger end game? Was Brock toying with him? Was Brock's initial strategy to lull him into a false sense of security?

Ash glanced at the charging rhino again and the silt trampled underneath Rhyhorn's feet. The wheels in his mind began to turn as he took time to think everything over. "Orion, Flame Charge!" he exclaimed as Rhyhorn drew close again.

The fire type executed the command and cloaked himself in flame before darting away from the charging rock type, forcing the rock type to make another looping turn. Ash glanced at the silt on the ground. He took a deep breath.

What exactly was he looking at?

The silt was too fine to be remnants of Orion's Ember. The hot dust was larger than the silt and the hot ash was still burning brightly on the battlefield. Brock's shouts from across the battlefield forced Ash to divert most of his focus back on the battle.

"Rock Tomb!"

Rhyhorn promptly stomped the ground and ripped up a chunk of the stone battlefield with the sharp horn on his head.

 _Grhhrhr!_

The rock type roared and flung the chunk of earth up into the air with a flick of his head. Orion zigzagged back and forth waiting to determine where the where the boulder would land as the falling clump of rock plummeted down from the sky. Once a tangible shadow formed over the spot where the boulder would fall, Orion cloaked himself in fire and sprinted as far away from the landing sight as possible. Dust and debris flew everywhere like a mortar shell had hit the battlefield. Pebbles crashed up against the protective walls of the barrier surrounding the battlefield, blinding both trainer and Pokemon alike.

Ash rubbed the stars from his eyes, only to find a thick cloud of dust obscuring the battlefield. He gritted his teeth. Was Orion still standing?

He was nearly positive that the attack hadn't scored a direct hit, but he couldn't help but wonder if the shrapnel from the falling boulder managed to hit the fire type.

A tiny flicker of orange light caught his attention as the dust cloud started to settle. Ash smirked at the sight–Orion was sullied with dust; but he was still standing. His joy was short-lived as Brock repeated his previous command. Rhyhorn followed the order and hurled more chunks of rock, this time throwing them directly at Orion.

Having seen the first Rock Tomb attack Rhyhorn had launched, Ash determined two things–the chunks of earth Rhyhorn threw were heavy and he didn't want to see what type of damage the rocks would do to a Pokemon.

"You know what to do!" Ash exclaimed.

Orion whinnied and cloaked himself in flame once more. The fire type became nothing more than an orange flicker of flame as he sprinted about the battlefield. Orion scurried back and forth, dipping and ducking occasionally to avoid chunks of rock whizzing past his head.

"Rock Polish," Brock repeated, causing Rhyhorn to channel a plethora of bright cobalt sparks through its body. Fine silt and small pebbles fell from Rhyhorn's body onto the ground, catching Ash's attention once more. "Horn Attack!"

Rhyhorn thundered toward Orion with long strides before the creature lowered its head and prepared to ram the fire type with its horn. Orion made a sharp cut to the right to avoided the charging Pokemon only for the rock type to make a quick turn and charge towards Orion again.

Ash's eyes widened. That was certainly a surprise. While there was no doubt that Rhyhorn was faster after using Rock Polish, Ash hadn't expected the rock type to gain agility.

As Rhyhorn closed in on Orion, Ash realized that they wouldn't have time to react this time around. Rhyhorn was too close to shake off this time around, they only had one option.

Ash frowned. He hated resorting to jumping, but given the circumstances he didn't have much choice. While Ponyta were natural athletes and were more than capable of leaping obstacles more than three times their height, Orion hadn't practiced jumping before. It was risky, especially given the fact that Rhyhorn could now make sharp turns.

What stopped the rock type from simply turning around again and ramming Orion once he landed his jump? Ash couldn't afford losing Orion without at least doing something to Rhyhorn to it down. Orion had yet to make Brock's Rhyhorn so much as sweat; there was no way Aurora could take on Brock's Rhyhorn near full strength and another one of Brock's Pokemon at full strength.

Ash waited for the rock type to draw in closer before announcing their change of plans. "Orion, jump over Rhyhorn!" He shouted. A small trace of desperation leaked out in his tone of voice.

Orion whinnied and tensed up. Pushing off the ground with his strong legs, the horse propelled himself up into the air and over the top of the charging rock type, leaving Rhyhorn nothing but air to thrust its horn into. Unfortunately, Rhyhorn did exactly what Ash expected it to do.

Rhyhorn made a sharp turn to its right and rumbled towards Orion again. The trainer cursed under his breath. Judging by his deep breaths, Orion was starting to tire and Rhyhorn was closing in. He had good endurance but Orion was just not prepared for Rhyhorn to be this relentless in battle.

Orion attempted to shake off the rock type like he had done many times throughout the battle, but Rhyhorn anticipated his movement. The rock type grunted and thrust his horn into Orion's chest. Ash winced upon hearing an audible crack. Orion groaned in agony from the hit and tumbled across the battlefield.

A flash of yellow light blinded Ash as Orion slammed into the protective barriers in front of him.

"Orion!" Ash shrieked with alarm.

A battered and bloodied fire type, now sporting a large gash on his chest, lay on the ground mere inches from his feet. He could only imagine what Orion's internal injuries were from taking a direct blow from Rhyhorn's horn.

The trainer from Pallet Town fumbled for Orion's Poke Ball. He hated his chances of winning against Brock down two to one, but Orion's health mattered far more than winning against Brock. Orion was too injured to continue. Ash imagined that Orion had to have broken bones after taking a direct hit from Rhyhorn and the horse was bleeding profusely.

In addition to his chest wound, the wounds from the sharp fragments of stone had been reopened after Orion tumbled across the ground. The trainer aimed Orion's Poke Ball at the fire type and pressed the button on the front of the orb. A bright beam of crimson light spanned from the orb and engulfed Orion.

The fire type fought the pull of the beam and broke free from it. Ash's eyes widened in disbelief. "What are you doing?!"

Orion whinnied his disapproval and glared at Ash with fury in his eyes. The fire type mustered up all his remaining strength and staggered onto his feet. Orion wobbled momentarily and his knees buckled under his own weight. If he wasn't concerned for Orion before, he was practically panicked now. "You don't have to fight anymore." Ash assured, pointing Orion's Poke Ball at him again.

Orion voiced his annoyance with the trainer again, seemingly reemphasizing his refusal to quit. He was bound and determined to finish his fight with Rhyhorn even if Distortion itself stood in his way. Orion grunted and willed himself to stand. The fire type glared at Rhyhorn and scraped his front hooves on the ground like an enraged Tauros.

Orion poured more of the internal fuel from the pyro sacs in his body into his flames, causing his tail and mane to burn even brighter.

Ash relented. He knew it was pointless to try to talk Orion out of fighting from firsthand experience. Ash recognized Orion's determination and stubbornness in himself, if he got an idea in his mind to finish something he would finish the task no matter what.

Ash noticed Brock's lips quirk upwards in a smirk, even the gym leader was impressed by Orion's resolve. "I've seen a lot of things a gym leader, but I've never seen a Pokemon prevent itself from being returned to its Poke Ball like that. Your Ponyta has determination, that's for sure. Win or lose, no one can say you two didn't try against my Rhyhorn." Brock complimented.

Ash smiled at the compliment. It seemed a bit out of character considering how stoic Brock had been throughout the battle, but he appreciated it regardless.

He nodded to Orion to signal he was ready when the fire type was. Ash had been saving an ace up his sleeve for the match with Brock and he figured now was as good a time as ever to use it. "We're putting everything we have into this next attack, hit Rhyhorn head on with Flame Charge!"

"Rhyhorn, Horn Attack!" Brock countered. "Finish this!"

Ash felt his heart flutter from excitement. Brock had taken the bait. "Double Team!" The trainer from Pallet Town cried out.

The fire type whinnied. Two flame cloaked duplicates of himself formed beside him and sprinted ahead of him, causing Rhyhorn to hesitate for a split second. The rhino was unsure about which Ponyta to attack first.

"Stone Edge!" Brock shouted, switching tactics.

Rhyhorn skidded to a halt and stomped the ground. A shockwave ripped through the ground and two columns of stone erupted from the battlefield underneath the sprinting Ponyta. The duplicates dissipated into wisps of smoke that momentarily shrouded the battlefield in a hazy fog.

Rhyhorn grunted in confusion before the real Orion burst forward from the dissipating veil of smoke and slammed into Rhyhorn. Bright orange flames burst forward from Orion's body and engulfed the fire type, leaving the rock type's armor charred.

Ash inwardly thanked Professor Oak for his gift. The trap had worked. While Rhyhorn had been focused on the copies of Orion, the real Orion managed to score a hit on the rock type and expose the armored Pokemon to flames.

Flame Charge wasn't just useful for gaining speed. Not only did the technique help get the circulation going, warm up a fire type to invigorate them, and release adrenaline into the bloodstream; but Flame Charge turned the user into a living fireball. Anything that it made contact with or crashed into would be engulfed in flame.

And above all else–the more Flame Charge was used, the stronger the flames became and the faster the user became.

"Rhyhorn, Horn Attack!" Brock repeated like he had many times before.

Rhyhorn charged Orion once more and lowered its head. Orion channeled his remaining strength into a massive plume of flame around his body that made him glow brighter than any star in the sky. The fire type charged towards Rhyhorn at full speed; instead of sidestepping his opponent, Orion lowered his shoulder and took Rhyhorn's hit head on.

The fire type cried out in agony.

Another loud snap, likely more bones snapping, echoed through the gym; but not before a cascade of flame washed over Rhyhorn. Even with his thick stone armor protecting him from the fire, Rhyhorn roared in agony as he was engulfed by fire. Ash winced, even though Rhyhorn was their opponent he hated seeing Rhyhorn suffer.

There was an odd tint of orange on Rhyhorn's armor, the heat scorched his stone hide to the point of warping it.

Ash glanced down at Orion's bloodied and beaten body. He felt a twinge of guilt for allowing his friend to get hurt. He questioned whether or not he should have been more forceful with the fire type. Ash pressed the button on the front of Orion's Poke Ball to return the Ponyta to the safety of stasis.

There was no time for second guessing himself now. Orion had put everything on the line to give the team a chance to beat Brock and his plan had been set in motion. They had come too far to back down now. "You fought well, Orion, you didn't quit. You should be proud of yourself." Ash whispered to the red and white orb in his hand.

Ash clipped Orion's Poke Ball back to his belt and unclipped a second Poke Ball from his belt. He glanced at Rhyhorn. The rock type didn't look like he was in too good of shape. He was panting heavily and his craggy, stone armor was charred badly.

He almost felt bad about what he was going to do next. "Aurora, I choose you!" The trainer declared, throwing the Luxury Ball in his hand. A crimson flash of light lit up the gym for a split second as the Luxury Ball opened to reveal the Alolan Vulpix.

Aurora held her head up with pride.

"Aurora, be careful, Rhyhorn has thick armor so physical techniques won't do anything against it," Ash warned. "Rhyhorn also used Rock Polish to enhance its speed to the point where it managed to take down Orion."

Aurora's eyes narrowed at the mention of the horse being defeated by Rhyhorn. She knew just how fast Orion was from firsthand experience. The games of tag she played with Orion and the races she had with Orion proved his speed. She wasn't going to take Rhyhorn lightly.

"You ready?" Ash whispered. Aurora responded with a brisk nod. "Powder Snow,"

Aurora sprung into action and drew air into her lungs before releasing the air from her mouth in the form of icy wind gusts. Rhyhorn grunted and veered out of the way of the blast of snow flurries and whipping winds.

Unlike the previous times where he had been caught off guard, Ash wasn't surprised the slightest bit that Rhyhorn managed to escape the blast of chilled air. He nodded to the fox again, prompting her to suck in more air and puff out more streams of cold air at her foe. Rhyhorn danced out of danger, zigzagging back and forth to dodge the blasts of cold.

Ash grumbled under his breath. He shouldn't really have been surprised, but the rock type's agility still managed to catch him off guard again. It just seemed to get faster and gain agility the longer the battle continued.

Brock apparently hadn't revealed just how much agility and speed Rhyhorn gained from Rock Polish, but now Rhyhorn was starting to show off his full ability. The rhino was far more nimble than Ash imagined it could be.

Fortunately, even the missed shots were helping to a certain degree since they were cooling the air around Rhyhorn.

Ash hadn't forgotten his classes back in school. While stone was very durable and difficult to wear down, rocks didn't respond well to rapid temperature changes. Sudden and extreme temperature fluctuations could chip and break rock from the expansion and contraction of the rock.

He imagined that Rhyhorn's stone armor wouldn't respond to the temperature changes any better than stone found in nature. Orion had practically exposed Rhyhorn to the heat of a blast furnace only a few minutes ago; rapidly cooling the rock type with Powder Snow would warp its armor further, if not outright crack it.

Countless snow flurries whirled about from Powder Snow whizzing through the air, usually finding a spot where Rhyhorn had once been.

"Rhyhorn, Stone Barrage!" Brock ordered, apparently tired of watching Rhyhorn placed on the defensive from the blasts of cold.

The rhino snorted in acknowledgment and barreled forward like a freight train rumbling down the tracks; however, instead of rushing towards Aurora, Rhyhorn thundered towards one of the patches of raised earth in the battlefield where Rhyhorn had used Stone Edge.

 _Crack!_

The stone didn't stand a chance. Shards of stone flew out in countless directions and a thick cloud of dust cloaked the battlefield in a gray haze. Shrapnel from the flying rock pelted the protective walls around the gym's battlefield, causing the barriers to flare up again.

Ash shielded his eyes and waited for the dust to clear. His eyes locked onto the fox standing at the far end of the battlefield. Although her fur was sullied by the dust, she didn't appear to be injured from the attack.

If anything, Rhyhorn seemed like it had been shaken up by the the technique more than Aurora. Rhyhorn wouldn't have had any problem smashing into stone under normal circumstances; but after its armor had been weakened by heat the stone was made fragile. It wouldn't have been noticeable to the untrained eye, but Ash had been around Pokemon to notice the differences on Rhyhorn's body. There were cracks and chips in Rhyhorn's stone hide as a result of crashing into the raised earth.

That was another weakness that Aurora could exploit.

"Rhyhorn, Horn Attack!" Brock shouted.

Having had hardly any time to regain her bearings, Aurora found herself staring down a bulky rhino charging towards her headfirst. Rhyhorn snorted and thrust his horn into Aurora's shoulder and pinned the ice type against the psychic barriers.

At least, Rhyhorn would have pinned Aurora against the barriers had she been standing there. The fox dispersed with a puff of smoke, leaving both Rhyhorn and its trainer in shock before a blast of cold air struck Rhyhorn in the back.

 _Hiss!_

Billows of steam rose from Rhyhorn's body from the sudden change in temperature and beads of condensation dripped from Rhyhorn's hide.

Brock's stoic facade broke and a scowl formed on his face for the briefest of moments. The gym leader was clearly annoyed. Ash smirked at his opponent's reaction. Who would have thought that the same trick could work twice?

"Freeze-Dry, Aurora!" Ash exclaimed.

A second white fox darted forward from the opposite end of the battlefield and fired swirling winds from her mouth that lashed out at Rhyhorn's body. Rhyhorn let out a roar of agony in response to the cold air.

Another thick cloud of steam wafted off of the rock type's body from the sudden change in temperature and ice clung to his body likely a result of condensation freezing during the rapid temperature change. The rhino hit the ground with a loud thud and remained there, its joints locked up as a result of the condensation freezing.

Ash his heart flutter in excitement, his plan had worked. He had evened the match up.

Brock reached to his belt for Rhyhorn's Poke Ball and aimed the orb at the rock type. A faint whirring hummed through the gym as a red beam of light pulled the battered rock type into the safety of stasis.

"Interesting, I see that your Ponyta isn't the only Pokemon you taught Double Team to." Brock praised before clipping Rhyhorn's Poke Ball back to his belt. The gym leader rubbed his chin in thought. "I'm impressed, you've shown a lot more battle knowledge than most of the trainers I've faced lately."

Ash grinned in response to the second compliment given by the otherwise stern gym leader. He felt like he was on top of the world.

Brock unclipped another Poke Ball from his belt. "However, let's see how you handle this!" Brock shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice wavering just slightly.

Brock's stoic demeanor faded entirely and was replaced by genuine excitement. The gym leader tossed the orb up into the air after pressing the button on the front of the orb. Crimson light lit up the gym before a giant, gray serpent made entirely of stone emerged from the orb.

Ash's face paled. All of his excitement and confidence from winning the first half of the match disappeared in an instant. Brock's second Pokemon was gigantic, it looked more like a skyscraper than a Pokemon. Aurora wasn't much more than a lowly Caterpie in its presence. Even with a minor typing advantage from her ice type techniques, winning against the stone behemoth seemed improbable at best.

The stone serpent let out a menacing roar, forcing Ash to cover his ears. Judging by the irritated look on Aurora's face, the ice type wasn't very appreciative of the sound either.

Ash frantically reached for his Pokedex to scan the rock type hoping to learn more about it. Once he pulled the tablet out of his pocket, he pointed the lens on the front of the device at the serpent to allow the device to identify the snake. The Pokedex spoke in its typical cold monotone.

 _Onix, the rock snake Pokemon–usually live underground and are known for their ability to travel underground at speeds up to fifty miles per hour. Onix never get lost because its brain is composed of magnetic material which functions as a compass and helps guide Onix while they are burrowing underground._

Armed with the information about Onix from the Pokedex, Ash surveyed his surroundings and looked for anything that could be used to his advantage or things that would prove to be a disadvantage. He knew that he wouldn't be able to beat a behemoth like Onix by brute strength alone; strategy and tactical advantages in the terrain would be needed to even out the odds.

Well, that and luck – lots and lots of luck.

The trainer eyed the sprinklers on the ceiling. He wished Orion was available for the fight against Onix. A single Ember attack aimed at the sprinklers would trigger the sprinkler systems. While water would be detrimental to Orion, the water would have proven invaluable for Aurora. Onix's body wasn't much different from Rhyhorn's body.

Both Pokemon had craggy bodies made of stone. Ash imagined that the water from the sprinkler system would drench Onix and fill the crevices in its stone hide, making the serpent even more vulnerable to ice. A single Freeze-Dry or Powder Snow was capable of freezing water, and Ash could only imagine how Onix would react to having its entire body frozen.

He shrugged off the thought. It was useless to dwell on the idea since he couldn't use that strategy. Orion wasn't available for the fight and wouldn't be launching a cloud of hot dust to trigger the sprinkler system.

He supposed that he would have to find a way to get ice to form in Onix's vulnerabilities without water.

His mind shifted to the second abnormality in the gym. The gym's battlefield was an absolute wreck from the battle with Rhyhorn. Chunks of the battlefield were missing in many places and other spots of the battlefield were uneven as a result of tremors running through the battlefield. The uneven battlefield wasn't exactly beneficial for Aurora. She would likely have to watch her step during the entire fight to avoid tripping or falling in a crater.

"Your move," Brock declared.

Ash nodded to Aurora, prompting her to draw air into her lungs. He figured that it wasn't necessary to get her to change tactics. They needed to test Onix before they could make adjustments. Wisps of cold air rushed out from Aurora's mouth and whizzed towards Onix.

"Onix, Screech!" Brock retorted, emphasizing his command with an outward sweep of his arm.

The serpent announced its acknowledgment of the command with a deafening shriek. A powerful wave of sound erupted from Onix's maw and rebuffed the wind gusts aimed at Onix. Aurora cringed and staggered backwards, nearly blacking out from the intense sound.

He gave the ice type a sympathetic glance. Ash could only imagine how bad Onix's cries sounded to Aurora. Onix's screeches put enough pressure on his eardrums that it felt like they would burst; but Alolan Vulpix and their traditional counterparts had even better hearing than humans.

Brock showed no mercy. Noticing Aurora was disoriented from the soundwave, he took advantage of the situation and shouted out another command. "Tackle!"

Onix lunged forward and flung his head at the ground. Aurora scampered away from the serpent's head, avoiding the serpent by the narrowest of margins. Dust erupted from the battlefield and slivers of rock rained down from above.

Ash blinked. Was he really seeing what he thought he was seeing? He hadn't seen anything quite like the destruction Onix inflicted upon the battlefield. A simple lunge by Onix left a crater in the battlefield reminiscent to the craters around Mt. Moon left by meteorites.

He would have to approach Onix with the utmost caution, a single hit from Onix would likely incapacitate Aurora. As Ash gave the situation more thought, he realized that a direct blow from Onix wasn't his only concern.

Even Onix's misses were devastating.

Onix didn't have legs and slid across the ground or tunneled through the ground. The serpent didn't have to worry about tripping. The more marred and craggy the battlefield became, the more the scales tipped into Onix's favor. At the very least, uneven ground would slow Aurora down and in the worst case scenario it would trip her up allowing Onix to score a direct hit with Tackle. It threw off his battle strategy entirely. He had planned on trying to overwhelm Brock with Aurora's long ranged attacks while keeping his distance.

He had planned to outmaneuver Onix by keeping it off balance, but his primary plan of dealing with Onix had just been taken off the table. There would be no icy battlefield today.

He would have to change his approach. "Double Team!"

Aurora woofed her acknowledgment of the command before five duplicates of herself formed around her. Onix hesitated momentarily, caught off guard by the sudden increase of Alolan Vulpix. The rock type's charcoal-colored eyes shifted back and forth, seemingly analyzing the pack of Alolan Vulpix charging forward with a burst of speed.

All five of the Vulpix inhaled and spewed out a mighty gust of cold air.

Brock shook his head, familiar with the technique enough to counter it. "Not this time, Onix, Bulldoze!" He shouted.

Onix lifted the tip of its tail up and slammed it on the ground. Shrapnel from the battlefield flew up into the air and intercepted Aurora's attack. The rest of the shards of rock sprayed the protective walls and caused the barriers to glow from strain. A powerful tremor shook the earth and threw Aurora and her duplicates halfway across the battlefield. Gray puffs of smoke wafted through the air, marking the spots where the copies had landed.

A lone fox – the true Aurora–lay on the battlefield in a daze from the powerful shockwave. Ash gritted his teeth, Onix wasn't quite done yet. Before Aurora had a chance to get her bearings, Onix thrust its head at Aurora.

"Look out!" Ash warned with a trill screech.

Aurora let out a startled yip and rolled to her right. A strong tremor threw Aurora across the battlefield and fragments of stone and dust rained down upon her. The ice type staggered to her feet and shook herself off. Onix roared and barreled towards Aurora again, once again preparing to ram Aurora.

Ash inwardly chuckled. Brock was getting predictable, he'd make him pay for using the same trick twice. "No retreat, Moonblast, let's go!"

Aurora stared down Onix in defiance. She trusted her trainer and her own abilities. Onix wouldn't have a chance to hit her. Aurora opened her maw. Beads of fluorescent pink light coalesced inside her mouth and took the form of a small sphere. It still wasn't anywhere near the strength of a "true" Moonblast attack, but it would suffice. Aurora growled as she fired the golf ball-sized projectile at her foe.

Boom!

A bright flash of light lit up the room. The sphere of lunar energy detonated as it struck Onix between the eyes. Chips of stone and fine sediment flaked from Onix's body where the blast had hit. The blast staggered the serpent enough to cause it to veer right. Instead of hitting Aurora, Onix smashed the ground several feet away with its head. Ash felt the momentum of the match shifting, he had Onix on the ropes.

"Hit it again!"

Beads of pink light flickered inside mouth and took the shape of another golf ball-sized sphere. The orb of energy grew to the size of a small tennis ball. Emptying herself of all her stored lunar energy, Aurora fired the orb at Onix.

Another flash of light. The second blast of energy hit Onix in the side, and caused Onix to recoil in pain. Ash couldn't blame the rock type for crying out in agony. Onix's body had spiderwebbed in several spots. While the cracks appeared to be superficial, Onix had cracked armor from Moonblast's damage nevertheless. It hardly seemed significant, but to Ash that was a victory. The crevices on Onix's body where they were fused together were vulnerabilities where ice could buildup. Ice buildup, at the very least, would help immobilize Onix; and if enough ice built up in the crevices of Onix's body, its stone hide would crack and chip.

But the cracks on Onix's head and side gave him additional targets to hit. Not only would freezing those weak points have a similar effect as freezing the spots where Onix was fused together, but any cold or ice that seeped into the other cracks on Onix's body would likely freeze internal tissue and nerves.

The vulnerabilities in Onix's body gave Ash some leverage against the rock type, if only he could capitalize on it.

"Onix, Harden," Brock stated, his stoic tone of voice returning for the briefest of moments.

Onix answered the barrage of attacks with a quick surge of energy. A pulse of white light lit up the gym momentarily as Onix channeled energy through its body. Ash imagined that Brock's decision to use Harden was threefold. Not only did the technique enhance defensive capabilities by tempering the user's body with energy, but it helped solidify the stone around the weak points in Onix's stone hide to help prevent further damage around the chinks in Onix's body. He also imagined that Onix's body was much more dangerous when tempered, giving the serpent better offense.

"Onix, Tackle!"

Onix grumbled and thrust its head towards Aurora. Aurora channeled a flood of adrenaline through her body and scrambled away from Onix's head plunging towards the battlefield.

Aurora yipped. A shockwave swept her off her feet, sent her tumbling across the battlefield, and left her buried in a pile of pebbles and dust.

Ash cringed. Onix's size and physical strength were quickly becoming a problem. Aurora depended upon ranged attacks and the ability to keep her foes off balance. Onix was taking away her battle strategy. The rock snake had marred the battlefield, making it difficult for Aurora to flee and its sheer size made it difficult for Aurora to keep her distance from Onix.

Onix had practically stayed in the same spot throughout the gym battle so far. It only needed to make occasional adjustments in direction to strike Aurora.

Ash and Aurora barely got any chance to regroup before Onix lurched forward like a Arbok striking its prey. Aurora let out a squeak as she regained her bearings just enough to see Onix's head plummeting towards her.

Ash panicked. "Powder Snow!"

Aurora spewed bursts of chilled air from her mouth aimed directly at Onix's face and the cracked stone between his eyes. The stone behemoth paid little attention to the gusts and thrust its massive head down at Aurora.

Aurora rolled out of the way, only to get caught up in the shockwave of Onix's head hitting the ground. Aurora let out a startled yipe as she was flung up into the air. It took her a brief second to get her bearings. Regaining her composure, Aurora twirled through the air and landed on her feet.

Aurora took a deep breath to draw air into her lungs before firing off several more wisps of cold air from her mouth aimed at Onix. Onix grumbled, shrugging off each of the bursts until one of the icy gusts struck the cracks in its head. The serpent writhed in agony as cold air, ice, and snow filled the crevices.

"Bind!" Brock repeated, prompting Onix to action again.

Instead of the usual lunge, Onix contorted its body and made a sharp turn to chase down Aurora. The serpent closed in on Aurora and coiled its lower body around Aurora to prevent her from escaping before attempting to wrap her up with its lower body. Aurora leapt up into the air and climbed up Onix's craggy body.

"Shake it off!" Brock ordered.

"Freeze-Dry!" Ash countered.

Aurora scampered further up Onix's body. The ice type inhaled before expelling blasts of arctic air from her mouth onto every inch of Onix's body to fill the crevices on Onix's body with ice. Onix roared in defiance and shook in an attempt to throw Aurora off of its back.

Aurora squeaked.

Finding it difficult to hang onto Onix, Aurora channeled a burst of adrenaline through her body and leapt off of Onix's back to safety. Ash smirked at Aurora's handiwork. Frost and snow covered most of Onix's back, thanks to the icy gusts of Freeze-Dry from Aurora. He would have been hard pressed to tell the difference between Onix and the snow-covered peak of Mt. Silver.

"Onix, Bulldoze!" Brock was changing tactics again. Onix grunted and lifted the tip of its tail up in the air.

 _Crack!_

Rippling tremors rattled the battlefield, shaking both trainer and Pokemon to their very core. Aurora's knees buckled and fell flat on her stomach despite trying her best to withstand the earthquake. "Freeze-Dry!" Ash exclaimed.

"Bulldoze, follow it up with Tackle!" Brock declared.

Aurora forced herself back up and took in a breath of air. Channeling all of her mental fortitude to ignore the tremors in the battlefield, Aurora puffed out more wind gusts of supercooled air and aimed the blasts of air at the cracked stone on Onix's head. Snow flurries formed in the air and plummeted to the ground where the wind whizzed through the air. Another sharp bellow from Onix echoed through the gym. Onix flailed about in pain as cold air filled the crevices. More sediment flaked off of Onix's body.

Ash felt his heart flutter in excitement, his plan was working. The crevices appeared to be widening from the cold air permeating the cracks land Onix's movements appeared slower. Powering through the agonizing pain, Onix swung its tail at Aurora repeatedly.

Aurora zigzagged back and forth, dancing out of danger and retaliating with blasts of cold air aimed at Onix's weak points.

"Don't let up!" Ash shouted. Aurora fired several more volleys of cold air at her foe aimed at both Onix's head and side. The first few volleys missed the flailing Onix entirely before the second wave of icy gusts struck both of Onix's vulnerabilities, sending the serpent into another frenzy.

"Onix, Screech!" Brock exclaimed frantically.

Onix opened its massive maw. An earsplitting roar accompanied with a powerful soundwave echoed through the gym and overpowered the blasts of cold air. Ash winced as Aurora was thrown across the room by the soundwave and left in a daze by the sound. Onix sprung into action again.

Onix repeated its previous trick and barricaded Aurora in by coiling its body around Aurora. Aurora let out a yipe of agony as the serpent wrapped its body around Aurora and squeezed her as tightly as possible. Ash gritted his teeth, he didn't like how quickly the situation changed. Brock wanted to end the match quickly and Bind was his preferred method. An opponent couldn't fight any longer if they couldn't breathe.

Ash shouted out another command, hoping that the technique would be enough to force Onix to loosen its hold on Aurora. "Freeze-Dry!"

Aurora released the remaining air from her lungs and aimed for the cracks up by Onix's head.

Onix flinched and loosened its grip on Aurora, unable to handle the icy burn from the gusts whipping against his face and creeping into the cracks in his stone hide. More stone and dust flaked off from Onix's head as the cold caused its stone body to contract further. Taking advantage of Onix's loosening its grip, Aurora fired another blast of cold air at the cracks on Onix's head. The serpent thrashed about in agony, forcing Aurora to flee from the writhing serpent to avoid being hit by the flailing snake.

"Freeze-Dry," Ash repeated.

Aurora exhaled another blast of arctic air at her foe. The bitter winds lashed out at Onix's face and filled the crevices on Onix's forehead with even more ice and snow. Onix convulsed even more, the sting of the winds seeping into the cracks and likely wrecking havoc the rock type's rudimentary nervous system.

Rock types generally didn't feel the effects of pain quite as strongly as other Pokemon since they were protected by their thick stone hides protecting their nerves. However, if a rock type's armor was compromised in any way, it left them vulnerable; especially to the cold and ice which they already struggled with. Once the cold and ice sunk down into the second layer of their body, much more serious complications like nerve damage could develop.

Aurora, despite starting to feel the effects of fatigue on her body from her barrage of attacks, continued to unleash wave after wave of cold air upon the already gimped Onix. Onix repeated its usual pattern of trying to wrap up Aurora with Bind or slam into the ice type only to get a blast of cold air in the face, side, or crevices adjoining its body.

Ash frowned. Even though they had Onix on the ropes, Aurora's attacks were losing potency each subsequent time they were used. She was clearly getting tired, and even her body language showed it. Aurora was running on sheer willpower and Ash imagined that Aurora couldn't last much longer. While his recent training with the team had improved her endurance, she wasn't quite ready to take on a physical behemoth like Onix in a prolonged battle.

Fortunately, if Onix's body language was any indication the ice and snow had slowed the rock type as well. It was only a matter of time until Onix was exhausted as well. The serpent was sluggish due to the amount of ice and snow stuck to its body, and its breath was labored.

"It looks like our next few attacks will decide the outcome of this battle." Brock said, voicing the unspoken thoughts racing through Ash's mind. "I've definitely enjoyed this battle and you've proven to be a very capable trainer, but I'm afraid this battle is over."

Ash snorted. He was thinking the same thing. It was time for another Freeze-Dry, one that would hopefully be enough to put Onix down.

"Onix, Dig," Brock stated, his lips quirking up in a grin.

Onix followed the orders of its trainer and burrowed into the ground, leaving a giant hole in the battlefield where Onix had tunneled into the ground. Ash felt his heart skip a beat and practically sink into his stomach. Brock had saved one last trick up his sleeve–a trump card that few trainers had answers for. Onix tunneling into the battlefield not only gave Brock an advantage defensively since it was virtually impossible to hit Onix while it was underground, but it also gave him an offensive advantage.

Ash had no idea where Onix would resurface, giving Brock the element of surprise and allowing him to go on the offensive immediately after Onix resurfaced. And if he really wanted to, Brock could have his Onix resurface underneath Aurora.

Truth be told, Ash felt he would be in the majority of Brock's opponents. He didn't have an answer to Onix tunneling under the battlefield. The battlefield was too damaged from Onix and Rhyhorn to effectively turn the place into an ice skating rink like he had planned to during their preparations for the gym battle against Brock, there wasn't much left Aurora could do offensively, and Aurora's Double Team feints could be neutralized by Bulldoze.

He shouted out the only command he could think of to try to predict where Onix would resurface. "Listen closely for tremors and wait for the ground to shake, the moment you hear something or feel vibrations through the ground give Onix another dose of Freeze-Dry!"

The entire battlefield quaked momentarily, catching both Ash and Aurora off guard. Neither of them expected tremors of that magnitude since they thought that the tremors would be limited to the spot Onix would resurface at. The ground beneath Aurora began to shift. It took a moment for the thought to register in Ash's mind, but once it had it was far too late. "Aurora!" He shrieked in a panic.

Onix sprang up from the ground, launching Aurora and a cloud of debris up in the air. Onix lurched forward and thrust his head at Aurora, preparing to ram the airborne ice type. He had adjusted to Brock's strategies and given his best effort, but it wasn't enough. Dig had proven to be the deciding move. Ash felt his stomach churn as he watched Aurora up in the air and Onix lower its head.

"Freeze-Dry!" He repeated like he had countless other times throughout the battle.

Aurora took a deep breath and drew as much air as she could into her lungs before firing bitter cold wind gusts at Onix's head. The attack was far weaker than any of Aurora's previous ice attacks and did little more than make Onix angrier.

A sickening thud echoed through the battlefield. Aurora yelped in agony from the initial hit and shrieked even louder as Onix slammed the ice type against the psychic barrier ceiling of the gym and pinned her against the barriers. Ash gritted his teeth, he hated seeing or hearing his Pokemon suffer.

They had come so close. Wasn't there anything they could do? Onix pressed its head tighter against Aurora causing an audible snap. Ash winced. Aurora's white fur was stained a bloody crimson as blood trickled out of her chest and legs. He subconsciously reached for Aurora's Poke Ball.

Ash hesitated and his eyes widened, an idea entered his mind. They still had one more card they could play. "Aurora, Confuse Ray!" Ash exclaimed, faking a grin to hide his insecurities about using the technique.

Confuse Ray was virtually unproven in battle, energy-consuming, and outright risky since it could harm both the victim and its user; but considering the circumstances Ash couldn't bring himself to care. He couldn't bring himself to give any less than his best. He owed his team that much, especially after the effort Orion and Aurora put forth. Win or lose as long as he gave the battle his all, he would be satisfied with the outcome.

Aurora focused her gaze and locked eyes with Onix for one last stand with the rock type. Aurora's ice eyes shifted from their usual sky blue color to an unnatural and ominous red hue. Ash frowned–Onix wasn't stopping, it still had Aurora pinned against the barriers.

Suddenly, a horrific shriek reminiscent of a ghost type echoed through the gym. Onix backed down and released Aurora, allowing the battered fox to land on the ground safely. The technique took and it was powerful.

Whatever illusion Aurora had inflicted upon Onix was definitely something akin to its worst nightmares. The behemoth that tore through the ground like a hot knife through butter, overpowered Aurora's icy breath with a roar, shook the battlefield with earthquakes, and pinned Aurora against the barriers of the battlefield, now thrashed about on the ground like a Magikarp out of water.

The barriers surrounding the battlefield flashed repeatedly as Onix crashed into the wall and buffeted the wall with its body. A bright flash of red light engulfed Onix momentarily before it was whisked away into a red and white orb.

It took a moment for him to comprehend what happened from the adrenaline clouding his mind and the millions of thoughts racing through his mind; but his lips quirked up into a smile once he finally figured out what had happened.

He had beaten Brock.

His excitement was short-lived upon glancing over at Aurora. The ice type panted heavily and her legs trembled making it appear as if it was difficult to stand. Her white fur was stained crimson with blood from the gashes around her shoulder and chest likely from being hit in mid-air and pinned against the barriers of the gym.

She, like Orion, had given her all. Ash was proud of his starter, she hadn't given up in the face of the toughest adversity and hadn't backed down. She was tougher than anyone gave her credit for.

He smiled at the wounded fox and knelt down beside her. "You were amazing out there. Take a rest, you've definitely earned it." Ash whispered, reaching for her Luxury Ball. Aurora whimpered and tapped his hand with her icy nose.

The trainer from Pallet Town blinked. He swore that the ice type was smiling at him. A dark crimson beam of light flickered from the orb and pulled her into the safety of her ball. Ash let out a sigh of relief.

A heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders – he had won his first gym battle. While it wasn't likely a "true" win since he doubted that Aurora and Orion had faced Brock's official team, he had still emerged victorious over his opponent and it was a good feeling.

"You're pretty good, you know that?" Brock chuckled, shuffling over towards Ash as he navigated the demolished battlefield.

"I kind of lucked out, I was just surprised Confuse Ray worked. My Vulpix doesn't have a lot of experience with it." Ash downplayed with a nervous laugh.

Brock shook his head. "I underestimated you a bit there, I've seen a lot of trainers come through here; but only a handful were capable of matching what you did. Only a handful of trainers have managed to defeat my Onix, you've earned it."

The gym leader extended his hand, holding out a shiny, gray octagon in his hand. Ash glanced at the object and reached out for the item. A manic grin formed on Ash's face as he picked up the emblem evidencing his win over Brock. The badge felt lighter than he imagined it, but the emotional weight that it carried wasn't any less because of it.

He could officially prove he beat Brock in a gym battle and he was one step closer to the Indigo Conference.

"Thank you, I really enjoyed our battle!" Ash beamed, staring at the gray octagon as if it was a precious gem.

Brock nodded. "I did too, feel free to stop by again for a rematch in the future. Judging by your performance today, I think that you'll be ready to face my official team once you and your team get stronger."

"You can count on it!" Ash declared before turning to leave. Brock placed a firm hand on Ash's shoulder to get his attention.

"Hold on just a second!" Brock exclaimed. Ash spun back around and noticed Brock's outstretched hand holding out two plastic cases, one containing blue felt inside and the other containing a silver cartridge reminiscent to the long since obsolete floppy disks used in old computers. "For your win."

Ash gave Brock a perplexed look and reluctantly grabbed the items from his hand so he could examine them further. Brock chuckled, noticing Ash's confusion. "It's not a lot, but I usually hand out the TM for Rock Tomb to those that win at my gym. Also, I customarily offer my challengers a badge case just in case they don't have one." Brock clarified.

Ash grinned again. Those would definitely come in handy. "Thanks!"

Brock nodded. "Get ready, because this is just the beginning. There will be plenty of challenges awaiting you. Only those that put in the effort will be able to succeed in those challenges."

Ash gave the gym leader a brisk nod and filed the quick lesson away in his mind for later. As he turned to leave, he tucked his new gear into his pocket. His Pokemon had been roughed up badly after fighting Brock. He imagined that they needed medical attention

Once again, the Pokemon Center awaited them.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: Fun facts – Tsukene means root in Japanese, Tsuru means vine, and Chūsainin means mediator.**_


	4. The Front Lines

_Yip!_

Ash winced, his ears were ringing from the shrill yipe; although Aurora's horrified expression made him pity the ice type even if she was driving him nuts. She didn't seem to understand that he didn't want to go through the routine either. She flailed around in his arms frantically trying to escape from Ash. A set of sharp claws lashed out against his hand, leaving scratches on the back of his hand.

"Will you hold still?" Ash scolded.

Aurora paid little attention to the scolding and continued to thrash around, causing Ash to groan inwardly. Why did she have to make this harder than it needed to be?

Aurora shrieked again, causing Ash to grow even more irritated. He could only imagine what everyone else in the other Pokemon Center was thinking. He expected a knock at the door from a league official at any second that would haul him away for abusing his Pokemon.

"Aurora, you have to take your antibiotic!" Ash seethed.

The ice type flailed even more at the mention of the word, forcing Ash to grip Vulpix even tighter to prevent her from escaping. Ash cursed under his breath from a sharp pain in his arm. The trainer winced as he examined the red marks on his arm left from teeth.

"Did you just bite me?" Ash gasped, unable to believe Aurora had lashed out at him.

He could barely believe that his cheery Vulpix had turned into a frantic mess over something as trivial as taking an antibiotic and he definitely couldn't believe that she had bit him. She had resorted to running away from him, hiding from him, and swatting away the medicine; but biting hadn't been something she had resorted to previously. This was a new low even for her.

"If I let you go and lay you on the bed, will you take your antibiotic?" Ash bargained, hoping that Aurora would agree to the deal. He reasoned that if he gave her a bit more leeway that she would willingly take the medicine and behave with her usual maturity.

And so far it seemed to be working.

Aurora stopped squirming and stared up at Ash with her sky-blue eyes, seemingly considering the deal. The ice type whimpered and relented, apparently conceding defeat. Ash smiled and loosened his grip on her, and set her down on the bed. "See, this doesn't have to be difficult at all!"

He reached over to his backpack and pulled out a medicine bottle along with an oral syringe. The moment he took his eyes off her, Aurora sprung off the bed, landed on the floor with a thud, and dove under the bed.

Ash growled. Apparently, Vulpix were not to be trusted. "You'll wish you listened to me if you get an infection!"

An amused snort echoed from across the room. Ash peered over at Orion who watched the battle of wills while gobbling down the remaining kibble in his food dish. "You didn't see Orion freak out over the antibiotic, he held still and took the medicine!" Ash exclaimed, pointing to the fire type while peering under the bed at Aurora.

Orion bobbed his head, boasting about his accomplishment to his teammate in hopes of coaxing his teammate out from underneath the bed. Aurora growled in reply. She wasn't conceding on the issue. Ash shoved his hand under the bed and reached out to grab Aurora. The ice type blew a weak stream cold air in Ash's face in response. The trainer sputtered and brushed the snow off his face. "Fine, be that way, I'm not going to fight you anymore." Ash conceded.

The irritated trainer grumbled under his breath. If the ice type was healthy enough to sprint away, she had healed up enough not to need the antibiotic anymore.

At least that's how he was trying to rationalize his decision in his head.

He grumbled a few more complaints under his breath as he tucked the medicine away in his backpack and zipped the bag closed.

Ash quickly changed gears and focused on Orion's empty food dish. There had only been two things preventing them from leaving Pewter City – Aurora not taking her medicine and Orion finishing up his food. Orion had finished his food and Ash was finished trying to convince Aurora to take her antibiotic. It appeared that they were ready to leave, which was good because the Mt. Moon trek would be long.

The sooner they could start the journey through the Arceus forsaken, Zubat infested caves, the better.

* * *

 _Click, click, click._

Ash fidgeted with his badge case while staring at the shiny emblem inside the case.

He was antsy to say the least. As nice as Pewter City was, he hadn't wanted to spend an entire week in Pewter.

He finished all the possible shopping he could do, there weren't many people to battle, and there wasn't much to visit in Pewter City since he had already visited the Pewter City Museum.

He had tied up all the loose ends he had in Pewter after he called his mother to inform her of his progress on his journey and called Professor Oak to thank him for sending him the TM for Double Team. He certainly appreciated that he had people back home thinking of him. Professor Oak's gift had proven to be one of the deciding factors in his battle with Brock.

Aside from the gym and the museum, there wasn't much in Pewter City. Needless to say, there was nothing exciting happening in the small town.

The closest thing he had to excitement was seeing that one thousand four hundred dollars had been credited to his bank account after beating Brock. For the most part, his days consisted of watching television and skimming through the Pokedex while he waited for Nurse Joy to finish her daily treatments on his team.

Nurse Joy had informed him that Aurora and Orion had suffered broken bones from facing Brock's Pokemon. Even with the heavy doses of full restore and Ditto cells administered to them that cut the recovery time by seventy-five percent, it still took them three days for Aurora and Orion's bones set properly and to recover.

Considering the extent of his team's injuries, he wasn't surprised. Aurora received broken ribs from Onix pinning her against the barrier of the gym and had compound fractures in her front legs. Orion's sternum and front legs were broken from the collision with Rhyhorn and he had to get stitches to repair the lacerations received from fighting Brock's Rhyhorn.

The rest of the week was spent doing light stretches and jogging with Aurora and Orion once their bones reset and they regained their movement. Nurse Joy had instructed Ash to exercise with his team to help them rebuild their strength and it was definitely paying off.

While they weren't quite at full strength yet, they had regained about ninety percent of their strength. Unless of course, you counted Aurora's mad dash to avoid taking her antibiotic as a feat representative of her recovery.

Ash stared out the window. He longed for fresh air, wide open spaces, and the adrenaline rush adventure brought for it had been far too long since he had experienced any of those things. He yearned to meet challengers to battle and visit new places. He felt like a Pidgey trapped in a cage. If it wasn't for the company of his friends, he would have been bored out of his mind.

"Ketchum, Ash Ketchum!"

The trainer perked up at the sound of his name and glanced over to the front desk of the Pokemon Center. Nurse Joy was signaling for him to come over to the counter. Ash jumped up from his seat and scrambled over to the counter, stumbling over himself in the process. "Yes?"

Nurse Joy gestured to the tray sitting on the counter. "I just finished my checkup on your Pokemon, they are in perfect shape and are ready to go."

Ash grinned and scooped up the Poke Balls on the tray to clip them to his belt. "Thanks, Nurse Joy," he muttered, tipping his cap to the physician.

"You're welcome, but please," Nurse Joy paused for a moment, trying to find the right words. "Do try to be more careful."

"I'll try my best. Brock really did a number on my Pokemon." Ash remarked. "His rock types are pretty brutal."

Nurse Joy smiled bitterly. "He's a good man and means well, but he can be rough on his challengers. I suppose that's his job."

"Yeah, I suppose," Ash replied.

"Of course it's my job," A masculine voice interjected.

Heavy footsteps announced the presence of another person. Ash wheeled around to see the source of the voice and footsteps. He lurched backwards out of surprise. Brock was about the last person he expected to see. The Pewter City gym leader flashed a bright smile at both him and Nurse Joy.

"I'm the Pewter City gym leader after all, my job as a gym leader is to test a trainer's abilities and make sure that they are worthy of competing in the Indigo Conference. Some rookies might hate me now for roughing up their Pokemon, but if you really think about it I'm saving them a lot of hassle down the road. It's better that they learn how rough Pokemon battles can get early on so they don't learn that lesson when it's too late." Brock defended. "Imagine what type of trouble a trainer could get into at the Indigo Conference if their Pokemon weren't prepared for intense battles, it wouldn't be pretty."

Ash's expression softened at the explanation. He didn't consider Brock a dirty fighter by any means or even a bad person after facing him at the Pewter gym; but the match still left Ash questioning why Brock came off so harsh.

The tone Brock addressed Ash with was emotionless at best and acrimonious at worst. Brock's stoic personality made him seem uncaring even though his cheerful personality after the battle said the complete opposite. He was a strange paradox, but now his cold facade in battle made much more sense.

Brock's facade was a test – a test conducted to see whether or not a trainer could handle the intensity of Pokemon battles. A dose of reality that tempered the idealistic visions of young trainers by reminding them of what Pokemon battles could often be.

Ash's eyes shifted to Nurse Joy as the physician reached for two Poke Balls on a shelf.

"I'm assuming that you're here for these?" she asked, holding out the red and white orbs for Brock to see.

The gym leader nodded and took the orbs from her hand. "Well, now that you mention it, I could be here for another reason...I would definitely appreciate the company if you're free tonight." Brock swooned.

"My answer is the same," Nurse Joy answered with a hint of irritation in his voice. "I already said no."

"Just dinner?" Brock pleaded, desperation in his voice.

"No," Nurse Joy repeated, more forceful than before.

"How about a movie?" Brock asked, cupping his hands together and kneeling on the floor.

"No!" Nurse Joy replied, even more sternly than she had the first two times.

Ash cringed and looked away out of embarrassment for the gym leader. It pained him to watch the stoic gym leader turn into a hormonal mess and grovel before Nurse Joy for a date. Perhaps now was a good time for him to leave. As he turned to leave, a boy rushed into the Pokemon Center and collided with Ash.

He grunted, thrown backwards from the collision before he landed on his back with a jarring thud. The trainer grumbled numerous complaints under his breath as he sprung to his feet and dusted himself off. "What was that all about?!" he scolded, too irritated with the boy's recklessness to remain silent.

The boy groaned as he sat up and brushed himself off. "I'm so sorry, I'm just kind of in a hurry! I need my brother right away!" he panted, seemingly unable to catch his breath.

Ash flinched as he glanced over at the boy, he recognized the boy immediately from his conversation with him in the lobby of the Pewter gym. The spiky brown hair and the squinted eyes were difficult to forget because of how unusual the features were. "Your brother, huh?" he echoed. "Who's your brother?"

Ash noticed the boy look over at Brock, who still appeared to be fawning over Nurse Joy. The trainer from Pallet Town groaned mentally. That had been a stupid question – a really stupid question. The family resemblance was obvious.

"Brock, I need to speak with you!" The boy called out to the distracted gym leader, with an urgency in his voice.

"Give me a second, I'm currently making plans for this evening." Brock huffed, waving the boy off.

The boy grumbled something under his breath and marched over to his brother with a burnt orange-colored phone in his hand. "Look Brock, this isn't a game, this is _very_ important!" he declared, using a more forceful tone of voice as he stormed over to the gym leader and pulled him away from the front counter.

Brock's demeanor shifted back to the stoic man Ash had battled at the gym upon noticing the urgency of his brother. "Okay, you have my attention. What's going on, Forrest?"

Ash took note of the boy's name as he continued to observe the conversation between the brothers. Judging by the frantic behavior of the boy, something big was unfolding. What was unfolding, however, Ash still couldn't figure out; but it had to be incredibly important.

"You left your Pokegear at the gym," Forrest stated before he paused momentarily to catch his breath. "Dad called and said that you need to call him back immediately!"

He waved the device in front of Brock's face.

This time the gym leader grabbed the device from Forrest and swiped the touchscreen, causing the screen to glow with faint light. "What for, is there an emergency?" Brock asked, a hint of concern noticeable in his voice.

"I don't know, all Dad told me was that I needed to tell you to call him back immediately!" Forrest answered.

Brock tapped the touchscreen and dialed in a number before excusing himself and heading over to the far corner of the waiting room. Ash held his breath, hoping to listen in on the conversation. While he usually wouldn't eavesdrop on someone's conversation, he didn't want to be kept out of the loop. If there was any sort of trouble, Ash felt he needed to offer a hand.

Brock was too far away to quite make out the details of the conversation, but the few words Ash did hear sent a shiver down his spine.

" _Lance...museum...evacuated...injured...dead...Rockets...mobilize..."_

Had he heard all of that correctly? Was his mind playing tricks on him? Was he imagining things? Hundreds of other questions about the situation raced through his mind. Had the league assembled a task force? Were more cities in danger? The sheer amount of questions in his mind made his head spin. His reasoning told him that he had heard the conversation correctly.

Ash felt his heart skip a beat from the sudden realization of how dire the situation truly was as his mind repeated the most important word uttered by Brock.

 _Rockets._

The organization that Nurse Joy and Tobias emphasized Ash avoid and declared had no respect for life was in Pewter City. Beyond that, they weren't working from the shadows, like Nurse Joy and Tobias claimed they tended to do. Team Rocket was staging a brazen attack for the entire region to see.

Ash's eyes burned with resolve as he grasped for the Poke Ball and Luxury Ball clipped to his belt. His team wasn't the strongest in the world, but he would never live with himself for standing on the sidelines. He was going with Brock, whether the gym leader wanted his help or not.

Ash refused to be a bystander when his region and the city of Pewter was under siege. Lance wouldn't have stood on the sidelines, the Shodai wouldn't have stood on the sidelines, and his father certainly wouldn't have stood on the sidelines.

He stared down Brock as he finally hung up and scrambled over to Forrest.

"Get back to the gym, I want you to make sure that your younger siblings stay inside and keep them safe. This is one of those times we talked about that you'll have to be the one that takes charge, Dad and most of our task forces are currently at Mt. Moon and I'm headed over to the museum to handle the situation over there. I need you to look after the younger ones. Can I count on you?"

Ash noticed Forrest's expressions mimicked the demeanor of his brother. "Yes," he answered with a weak whisper.

Brock reached down to his belt and unclipped a Poke Ball from his belt and handed them to his brother. "Take Geodude with you, I doubt that Team Rocket will be roaming Pewter if they are at the museum; but you never know."

Ash clenched his fists, the mention of the group confirmed his suspicions.

"Good, run if you can; but if you're attacked and can't escape, let them have it. Don't hold back." Brock replied with a smirk.

Forrest smiled and gave his brother a quick nod before rushing off towards the door.

"So Team Rocket's here in Pewter?" Ash muttered, addressing the obvious Donphan in the room.

Brock turned to look at Ash and nodded. "A curfew has been issued in Pewter City, all residents and travelers are advised to stay indoors. We've sent it out through the cellular networks."

Ash glanced down at his Pokenav. A text featuring all capital letters was visible on the screen. Apparently, Brock hadn't been lying; Ash must have been too absorbed in thought to notice the Pokenav chime.

"I don't know what your travel plans are, but I would advise against traveling until further notice because of Team Rocket's presence in the area. I will be assembling a task force to handle the situation at the museum." Brock recited. "We hope to have the matter resolved as soon as possible."

Ash rolled his eyes at the canned speech and shook his head. "The only place I'm going is to the museum," he stated bluntly.

Brock raised an eyebrow at the comment. "No, this is a Pokemon League matter. I will assemble a task force and handle the..."

"Bull," Ash interjected, interrupting the gym leader. "I heard what you said about your Dad and the majority of the forces being at Mt. Moon! I might not be able to do much in the fight, but there has to be a way I can be of some use! I can't just sit back and do nothing!"

"It's too..." Brock fired back.

"Too dangerous?" Ash interrupted again, his voice exuding frustration. He wasn't under the delusion that he would sweep through an entire Rocket squad and their commander, but he could make a contribution even if it was only as small as serving as a scout or standing guard over defeated Rockets.

"You don't think I don't know how dangerous it is? I showed up at the Viridian City Pokemon Center after it got attacked by Team Rocket members, I have a good idea of what they are capable of. Three rogue agents managed to nearly destroy a Pokemon Center, imagine what a group of organized Team Rocket members could do. That's why I feel that I need to help. One more helping hand, no matter how small it is, could decide the outcome of the raid. I'm not asking to lead the raid, I just want to help."

Brock rubbed his chin in thought and let out a muffled groan, realizing Ash wasn't going to be talked out of his position. "Alright, but there's several conditions," The gym leader relented.

"First," Brock held up his index finger. "Your name will not be published in the media. For all intents and purposes, you weren't on the mission – your involvement will be considered classified information and you are to tell absolutely no one of the events that happened at the museum. We don't want to risk you becoming a target."

Ash nodded in agreement. He liked the first condition. It kept him out of trouble with Team Rocket and more importantly it kept him out of trouble at home. The less Delia and Professor Oak knew about his involvement, the better.

"Second," Brock continued, lifting a second finger. "I want you to stick with me during the raid, unless instructed to do otherwise. League raids aren't a battle. Raids are unpredictable, you have little time to react, and one mistake can mean death to you or your team."

Ash nodded again, verifying his acknowledgment of the condition. Brock lifted a third finger. "Lastly, you are to listen to both my instruction and the instruction of the task force. If we tell you to leave, you are to leave immediately. It does not matter what is happening, if we give you an order you are expected to obey. Are these conditions understood?"

"Yes, it is," Ash replied with the utmost confidence.

"Good," Brock stated. "I will debrief you on the way to the museum. We need to catch up with the task force."

The gym leader motioned for Ash to follow him as he headed for the exit of the Pokemon Center.

Ash felt a surge of adrenaline surge through his veins, causing his body to tremble from a combination of anxiety and excitement. He was officially joining a league raid.

"Now would be the best time to inform your Pokemon what's going on and prep them for the raid." Brock added as they stopped outside the Pokemon Center.

Ash unclipped the balls containing Aurora and Orion from his belt. A cloak of crimson light shrouded his friends as they were released from their Poke Balls. The trainer took a deep breath to calm his nerves and shut his eyes while searching for the proper words.

A gentle nudge from Orion made Ash recoil from the intense heat radiating from the fire type. Even with him dousing his mane, the horse generated a substantial amount of warmth.

Orion bobbed his head, acknowledging Ash's terse expression and signaling that he was ready to support his trainer. Aurora woofed at Ash and stared up at him with a worried look upon noticing Ash's anxiety.

Aurora brushed up against the trainer's leg and yipped at him.

Ash smiled. He was grateful for the company of his friends. "We have some work to do, we will be helping the league with a mission. Remember the museum I told you two about, apparently it has been attacked and it's our job to put a stop to it. Are you two in?"

Aurora nodded and voiced her approval with a shrill bark. Ash chuckled, he had one volunteer. Orion stomped his hooves on the ground and snorted, releasing a cloud of embers into the air. He should have known the fire type would never back down from a challenge.

"Then we'll be joining Brock and his team to take down the threat." Ash explained, pausing momentarily. "Be careful, you guys. This isn't going to be like anything we've encountered so far, this mission with the league has consequences. One mistake could cost us dearly."

The trainer omitted the part Brock had added about them potentially dying during the raid. He preferred not to think about it and he imagined that his team didn't want to think about it either.

Besides, all three of them already knew what they were getting into. They were headed to the front lines.

"Alright, we're ready," Ash stated, looking over at Brock.

The gym leader nodded. "Return your Pokemon until we start the raid, they'll need their strength for the raid." Brock instructed. The gym leader motioned for Ash to follow him. "Let's move."

* * *

Ash frowned at the sight of the museum in the distance. He wanted his Pokemon to see the museum, but this was hardly the circumstance in which he wanted them to see the place. It hardly seemed like the same place. The windows were cracked or broken, the front entrance was marred with soot from fire or explosion, and a barricade of police tape prevented people from getting anywhere near the place.

Upon noticing Ash and Brock's arrival, a group of trainers–two men and a young woman–scrambled over to meet them. Ash gave them a once over. His mind slowly pieced together who and what he was looking at. The operatives were around Brock's age, although the woman appeared to be younger than Brock was; and they each had white uniforms underneath their silver vests. The tactical gear and the dress uniform were giveaways, the trainers were league operatives.

Brock gave the team a nod to acknowledge their presence which they quickly returned with a nod of their own. Ash noticed the group's gaze fixate on him, obviously questioning why Ash was with Brock even if they wouldn't say it out loud. It made Ash uncomfortable to say the least. He knew he was young, but did they doubt him that much?

"He's with me," Brock stated, his tone reflecting confidence in his decision. "He might not look like much, but he's ready."

The operatives gave Brock a skeptical look. It was obvious that they still weren't buying it at all.

"Status report?" Brock questioned, hoping to change the subject and end their mostly unspoken conversation.

The woman stepped forward. "We got here as soon as we could and set up a barricade. The Pokemon Rangers managed to evacuate some of the injured that managed to escape the museum. We had the injured transported to the Pokemon Center in Viridian City since some of the wounds didn't seem like they could be treated here in Pewter." She stated in a professional tone. If her demeanor and cadence was anything to go by, she had done this before despite her younger appearance.

"Casualty report?"

"We had a couple Alakazam run a scan on the place and sent a few Gengar into the museum to scout the place. From the amounts of wounded we recovered and the information gathered by the Pokemon, we're looking at least fifteen wounded and at least five dead." One of the men answered, his body quivering slightly. He looked a bit nervous, his pupils were dilated, and his body trembled every so often.

Brock looked away for a moment and cursed under his breath, his stoic facade breaking for just a moment.

"It could have been worse. Fortunately, there weren't as many visitors at the time and the museum staff managed to evacuate the place before Team Rocket was able to harm them. We believe the injuries and deaths are a result of the initial explosions when Team Rocket entered the museum." The female operative explained, offering what little consolation she could given the circumstance of the situation.

Brock gathered himself and put on his stoic facade once more. "Alright, the place has been scouted, right?"

"Yes, twice," The second male operative answered. The dark spots under his eyes gave Ash the impression that he hadn't gotten much sleep. "The bulk of Team Rocket activity appears to be on the west corridor of the museum."

"The west corridor?" Brock echoed, almost as if he was questioning the intel. The gym leader rubbed his chin in thought. "Interesting." He muttered under his breath.

"That's the space exhibit, isn't it?" Ash remarked.

The league operatives nodded. "Yes,"

"Then that's where we strike them." Brock replied. "What's the head count for this mission?"

"We'll have a task force of eight, not including you and the boy." The female operative replied while pointing to another group of league operatives further standing off in the distance. "We have five ACE trainers," She pointed to herself, the two men of the group, and two other men standing on the other side of the barricade. "And three rangers." She gestured to the remaining individuals.

"Mobilize all forces, we're going in!" Brock ordered.

The league operatives nodded. "You heard the man, let's go!" The woman shouted. She was obviously the ranking officer of the group. The ACE trainer motioned for the rest of the league forces. The other operatives responded by rushing over to join the group. Like the first group, the other league operatives glared at Brock upon seeing Ash which Brock responded to with a nod. It didn't take them long to focus on their orders which took precedence over Ash's presence.

"What's our orders?" One of the men from the other group of league operatives asked. Ash noticed the dark spots under his eyes. Now that he noticed it, the entire group seemed tired.

"We're mobilizing the task force, we're going in." Brock answered.

The man's face grew solemn. "How are we going to handle this one?" The man replied.

"We'll surround them and cut off their escape routes. If we can't subdue them on our own we will hold the line until reinforcements arrive." Brock answered. The gym leader pointed to the front of the museum. "I want operatives to take the front of the building,"

He pointed to the far west side of the building. "I also want another group to hit the west corridor directly."

Brock motioned for Ash and pointed to the east wing of the building. "We're going to enter through the back." The gym leader paused for a moment to catch his breath after relaying a string of non-stop commands. "All three teams will converge upon the west wing of the museum and box the Rockets in. Any questions?"

Ash nodded and glanced around, apparently the task force wasn't going to say anything either. Everyone appeared to understand the situation and the plan of attack.

Brock took a deep breath. "Stay safe," He instructed. The gym leader pointed at the museum. "The clock is ticking, let's move!"

* * *

Ash frowned. Keeping up to Brock was proving to be quite the task. The gym leader was a good five or six steps ahead of Ash, and the distance between them only seemed to be growing. The distance from the barricade to the back of the museum was much longer than Ash imagined. He staggered forward, willing himself to continue even though his lungs felt like they had been set on fire by a Charizard. Brock had let him join the raid, and Ash sure as Distortion wasn't going to give Brock a single reason to question that decision.

The trainer found a second wind as he noticed how close they were to their destination. Brock raised a hand signaling for Ash to stop before darting over to the wall of the building and leaning up against it. The trainer followed suit and leaned up against the stone wall of the museum. Brock peeked around the corner to the right and motioned for Ash to follow him.

"The coast is clear." Brock declared.

Ash sprinted over to the gym leader and followed in his footsteps, mimicking his movements. Brock reached down to his belt for his Poke Balls. He pressed the button on the front of the orbs, causing the spheres to expand to twice their size.

"Send out your Pokemon, get them ready." Brock instructed.

Ash didn't hesitate to obey and reached for both Aurora Luxury Ball and Orion's Poke Ball. He pressed the button on the front of the orbs immediately releasing the fire type and ice type from stasis.

Aurora and Orion glanced around at their surroundings and shot Ash a perplexed look. "We're about to start the raid. Get ready you guys, I want you to neutralize anything that you perceive as a threat to me, Brock, or league forces. I don't care how you do it, just do it."

Both Pokemon perked up and gave a soft grunt of acknowledgment. Ash turned his attention to Brock and glanced over at the thick stone walls of the museum. Suddenly, it dawned on him – there wasn't a door in sight. Just how exactly were they going to enter the museum if there weren't any doors or entry points like a window in the back?

"Are you ready?" Brock asked.

"Yeah, but just how are we going to be getting into the museum without any entrances?" Ash replied with an air of skepticism.

Brock chuckled. "We're making our own door."

A flash of ruby-colored light flickered from the Poke Ball in Brock's hand before a boulder-shaped creature emerged from the orb and stomped its stubby legs. Ash recognized the living mass of earth and smirked. That would certainly do the trick.

"Golem, we need an opening." Brock stated, pointing at the stone facade of the museum.

Golem clenched its fists and thrust a stubby arm forward. A devastating left hook connected with the stone building, causing the wall to crack. Shards of rock flaked from the wall and flew through the air. Ash raised a hand to his face to shield himself from the small chunks of rock raining down around him.

Golem followed his first punch with a right hook. The dent in the wall from Golem's punches grew larger. More dust and debris chipped off the wall from the punch, forcing both Ash and Brock to shield themselves from the shards of rock.

Golem swung its fists at the crater in the wall and unleashed a flurry of punches upon the weak point in the wall. Each punch slammed into the wall and tore more of the stone away until there was nothing left but a pile of pebbles, dust, and chunks of mortar.

Golem lifted the chunks of wall and casually chucked them aside, clearing a path to walk through. Brock nodded to the rock type in approval before stepping through the clearing. Ash followed suit.

Ash glanced around, rapidly inspecting his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was that the room was dark, although he couldn't determine how much of that was due to his eyes needing a change to adjust.

The second thing that he noticed was the temperature of the room. It was cold and not just a brisk chill, but rather a bone-chilling cold. It was a chill akin to that of stepping into a cooler. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Ash noticed how large the room was. It was at least the size of Professor Oak's lab and the layout of the room heavily resembled Oak's lab.

His eyes fixated on several counters in the room littered with paper, lab equipment, and even a few fossils on top of the counters.

 _A laboratory, perhaps?_

It definitely made sense. The test tubes, machines, paper, and fossils supported the assumption along with the temperature of the room. He also remembered Professor Oak telling him something about fossil examinations being conducted in temperature controlled rooms. He pushed the thoughts aside and refocused on the task at hand.

The last thing Ash wanted was to get caught off guard by a Team Rocket member because he wasn't paying attention. He caught a glimpse of Brock motioning for his Golem, causing the rock type to follow them into the room.

Ash followed suit and motioned for his Pokemon to follow them into the room.

Brock pointed to Orion. "We need his flames." Brock mouthed.

"We need your flames to see." Ash whispered just loud enough for the Ponyta to hear.

Orion whinnied in acknowledgment. Radiant orange sparks roared to life around Orion's neck and grew into wisps of flame. Ash squinted from the change in light. It would take a moment to get used to the light again.

Brock used the light provided by Orion's flames to take a closer at the papers on the counter.

"What are they?" Ash whispered, breaking the silence of the room.

"Records," Brock answered tersely, continuing to examine the documents further. "The scientists were running tests on fossils and taking notes of their findings."

Brock turned his head unexpectedly and glared at the door. Ash felt his heart leap in his chest, noticing the gym leader's sudden focus on the door. Apparently, Brock wasn't the only one fixated on the door. Aurora's ears twitched before she tensed up and growled at the door.

"What's wrong?" Ash muttered.

Brock made a slashing gesture in front of his throat. "Douse the light, someone is coming," Brock mouthed. "Tell your Pokemon to take cover."

Ash felt a lump form in his throat. "Douse the flames, Orion," The trainer from Pallet Town trembled. "I need you and Aurora to find somewhere to hide."

The fire type obeyed the command, causing the room to become filled with darkness again. Ash's eyes widened. He was disoriented and he couldn't see a thing; but he heard footsteps. Brock yanked Ash by his collar over towards him and behind one of the pieces of lab equipment.

"I'm telling you, I heard something in there." A masculine voice rang out from the other side of the door.

"This better be good." A second, more irritated, voice responded.

The doorknob jiggled and the door creaked upon being pushed open. Two men in black clothing with a crimson "R" insignia adorning the front of their uniforms entered the room. Both of them eyed the massive hole in the wall carved out from Golem's punches and the man on the left fumbled for a communicator clipped to his belt.

Brock glanced over at Golem looming in the shadows of the far corner of the room alongside Orion and Aurora. The gym leader nodded to the craggy Pokemon and whispered an order to Ash.

"Get ready."

Brock and Golem sprung out from their hiding places and charged the Team Rocket members, catching them off guard.

"How the heck did you get in here?!" The grunts exclaimed. It was a stupid question given the massive hole in the wall, but Ash didn't fault them. They were startled. The human mind didn't react well in a crisis.

Golem lowered its shoulder and rushed at its opponent with speed that Ash didn't know that the rock type had. Before the man could react, Golem slammed into him with a sickening crunch and pinned him against the wall. The man's two-way radio hit the floor with a thud.

Brock followed suit and rammed the remaining Team Rocket member into the wall. The grunt blacked out from his head hitting the wall with a thud. Ash eyed the limp bodies with a hint of concern on his face.

Even if they were criminals, he still hoped that they weren't–Ash forced his mind elsewhere. He didn't want to think about that possibility. It wouldn't lead anywhere good.

"There's bound to be more of them," Brock whispered. "Be careful, they'll most likely be aiming for us as much as they are aiming for our Pokemon. Let them have it."

Ash nodded reluctantly as they slipped out the door into a dimly lit hallway. The trainer felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. It was quiet, too quiet. He scanned over the hallway's features with his eyes. It wasn't much different than the hallway entrance of the museum, although the two other doors in the hallway made him a bit anxious.

Would there be more Rockets waiting for them in the other rooms?

Brock unclipped several more Poke Balls from his belt and sent out several more Pokemon, several of which were foreign to him. He recognized Rhyhorn and even Kabutops, but he wasn't familiar with the bipedal dinosaur with a pointed head or the stocky quadruped with a shield-like head.

However, it wasn't the mysterious Pokemon that demanded Ash's attention; it was the massive forms of Onix and an even larger silver form of the serpent that caught his eye. The serpents were only able to fit in the building by lying low and even then their size made it a tight fit.

With Pokemon that big backing them up, there was no doubt that they would stop Team Rocket.

"Watch our back." Brock muttered to his team.

Ash pointed at the doors in the hallway. "Shouldn't we check them out?" He mouthed.

"Utility closets." Brock mouthed in reply, pointing to the signs next to the doors.

Ash let out a sigh of relief with the knowledge that there were two less places to clear out which meant they could focus on the hallway. The trainer from Pallet Town followed Brock further down the hallway. He recognized the hallway now that he eyed the doors at the end of the hallway. While he had viewed the hallway from the other side of the doors, he recognized the area nevertheless.

The laboratory was restricted to the public, but he saw museum staff walk in and out of the hallway during his tour of the museum. Brock pointed to the men standing in front of the doors and nodded. "Aurora's Confuse Ray, might come in handy here." he mouthed.

Ash nodded at the suggestion, despite his inward hesitation about using from Tobias' warnings about the technique. He pushed the warnings aside, he didn't have time to debate the morality of the risk involved with Confuse Ray. Aurora had used it twice now with no repercussions. Besides, the suggestion seemed logical enough. If the illusions could take down an Onix, they would be more than enough for handling a person and if the power of the technique was limited it wouldn't cause much harm.

One of the men cried out from the end of the hallway as Ash and Brock stepped into the glimmers of light peeking in through the small windows on the swinging doors. "Who goes there?!"

Brock's Rhyhorn grunted and stomped its legs, sending a powerful tremor through the ground that knocked the entire squad of sentries on their back.

"Intruder!" One of the men exclaimed in a panic as he grasped for a Poke Ball.

"Aurora, Confuse Ray," Ash stated. "And scale it down a bit."

The ice type emerged from the shadows and became visible upon stepping into the beams of light. Aurora locked eyes with the man before allowing her eyes to shift color to a menacing red. "No!" The man hissed in terror. Ash cringed as the man hit the floor with a thud.

Aurora growled at the man and admired her handiwork. Ash smiled at the ice type in approval.

Bright flickers of light tore Ash's thoughts away from the terrified grunt and Aurora's Confuse Ray. Several rats with tan fur hissed at Ash and Brock. "Kill the intruders!" The Rocket grunts ordered before they barged out the door and sprinted away, likely to warn the other grunts in the building.

The rats spread out and bared their razor-sharp fangs. The Raticate caught Ash off guard by springing at him with killing intent. Ash leapt out of the way, narrowly avoiding its fangs, only for the other two to lunge at him as well. Bright orange flames roared to life and an orange blur intercepted the attackers. Orion cut them down with a swift kick to the head before turning his wrath upon the first attempted assassin. The fire type thrust a hoof into the Raticate's face, sending the rat flying into a wall.

Orion stomped the ground and scraped the ground with his hooves. Orion was restless and aggravated, clearly a result of their situation. He wasn't taking too kindly to Ash's attackers.

More of the vicious rodents charged at Ash and lunged at the trainer.

"Golem, intercept!" Brock exclaimed.

Golem swung a fist at one of the attackers and flung the rat into a wall with a loud thunk. The living boulder swung a second right hook at a second airborne Raticate sending it tumbling across the ground.

Movement – he swore he saw movement in the shadows of the room. Ash wheeled around to see a lone Raticate leaping from the shadows at him. "Ash!" Brock exclaimed in a panic.

Ash flinched and raised his arms in a pathetic attempt to shield himself, only for the rat to be trapped in a telekinetic prison.

A concerned Aurora glared at the attacker with malice in her eyes. Aurora growled at her trainer's attempted assassin and allowed her eyes to shift to a malicious crimson. The ice type glowed with satisfaction as the Raticate's mind was taken over by its worst nightmares, leaving the Pokemon convulsing on the floor in terror.

Aurora whimpered at Ash. He smiled at her and gave her a quick thumbs-up to reassure her that she was fine. Her facial expression softened slightly after seeing that he was fine, but she was still tense after the entire ordeal. She obviously didn't appreciate the Raticate trying to kill him. He also noticed that Aurora looked fairly tired after using Confuse Ray consecutively–after all the technique was very taxing.

"Thanks," Ash stated. He glanced over at Brock and Golem. "To all of you."

Orion bobbed his head up and down and brayed at Ash, voicing both his excitement and his determination to continue onward. Aurora nodded and yipped.

Brock shook his head. "We didn't do much, in fact, we should have reacted quicker to those Raticate." Brock replied.

Ash nodded before his attention shifted back to the situation. Shouts on the other side of the door caught their attention. The battle was far from over. "More intruders! We need to hold them off! Go, go, go!"

"Get back!" Brock shouted, pulling Ash away from the doors and behind Golem's craggy body.

The security doors burst from their hinges and rocketed forward. Golem reached out and stopped the doors with its arms and tossed them aside with little effort. Several Arcanine barreled into the hallway and snarled at both trainer and Pokemon alike.

"Level them," Brock commanded.

Ash smirked. More of Brock's Pokemon emerged from the shadows and charged their foes. Several of the Arcanine exhaled and unleashed a swirling gout of flame aimed at the charging Pokemon. Kabutops fired a jet of water and Aurora exhaled a weak breath of chilled air to intercept the flames. Steam filled the hallway from the stalemate of cold and heat clashing.

Rhyhorn charged forward through the steam and rammed its horn into one of the Arcanine. The wolf howled in agony before being launched backwards. Brock's bipedal dinosaur and shield-faced Pokemon followed suit by lowering their heads and ramming two other Arcanine.

Orion jumped into the melee and rushed the Arcanine that had been downed by Rhyhorn and the other charging Pokemon. Ponyta finished each of the wolves off with a swift kick to the head from his front legs, rendering each of the Arcanine unconscious.

Orion darted onward and into the room ahead to aid Brock's team in chasing off the remaining Arcanine.

"Let's move!" Brock shouted.

With his Pokemon keeping their would be attackers busy or having outright dispatched them, Brock charged forward into the next room and motioned for Ash to follow suit. Haruko's statue was there to greet them along with countless numbers of Team Rocket members accompanied by scores of Raticate, Arcanine, and Golbat.

The grunts shouted out an all too familiar order. "Stop the intruders!"

Ash kept just enough distance from Brock that they wouldn't become easy targets. He glanced over at Aurora standing beside him. He didn't bother saying anything knowing that she already knew about the enemies and opted for pointing at the foes instead.

Aurora drew air into her lungs and exhaled to unleash a frigid blast of cold air upon the scores of Team Rocket commanded Pokemon to thin their ranks. Dozens of Raticate and Golbat were left writhing on the ground from the sudden chill brought upon them by Aurora's Freeze-Dry.

The remaining Golbat spewed chunks of sludge at Ash, Aurora, Brock, and Golem. Golem slammed its fists on the ground and ripped up a long patch of flooring to form a makeshift wall to shield both Brock and Ash. Ash's eyes widened at the impressive feat only to be astonished by a second surprise. The acid from the sludge ate through the flooring in a matter of seconds. He took a mental note not to let any of the grime touch him or his Pokemon.

Golem ripped chunks of floor from the makeshift barricade and hurled the flooring at the squadron of Team Rocket grunts. The Pokemon and the men commanding them fled in a panic, hoping to avoid being hit and crushed. Several of the grunts and their Pokemon found themselves unable to flee and were pummeled by the debris.

Groans of agony and terrified screams of both Pokemon and men echoed through the room. Ash felt his stomach churn. Being crushed was hardly a pleasant way to die. He pitied the people and Pokemon that were unlucky enough to suffer the fate.

"Aurora, Powder Snow!" Ash shouted, shifting his mind to his next plan of attack to prevent his mind from wandering to despair.

Taking advantage of the chaos and confusion, Aurora fired gusts of cold air at the fleeing Golbat. The poison types unfortunate enough to be hit screeched in agony from the cold. While Aurora was distracted with the Golbat, a massive Raticate charged at the ice type and bared its fangs.

Golem rumbled towards Aurora only for several Arcanine to rush both Golem and Brock, forcing Golem on the defensive to protect both itself and its trainer.

Aurora sidestepped her foe, narrowly avoiding the fate of being ripped apart by the Raticate's massive fangs. The ice type aimed a gust of cold air at the Raticate that clipped the rat's side. Raticate hissed in agony. Pokemon weren't meant to have supercooled air touch their skin.

A mass of blackened skin was visible where Aurora's cold air had clipped it. Aurora wasn't holding back, she was going for the kill. Aurora's icy winds weren't just causing discomfort, the gusts were causing instantaneous tissue damage and severe cases of frostbite. Aurora exhaled once more, this time hitting the rat in the head to put it down.

He was about to scold the ice type for using excessive force, but Brock and Golem's struggle with the pack of Arcanine took priority. The trainer cursed under his breath. Fire types were about the worst thing Aurora could deal with. Fortunately, Orion arrived on the scene to aid them.

Ash glanced over at Golem, who was beginning to find itself overwhelmed. The situation was quickly deteriorating. What Team Rocket lacked in skill they more than made up for with sheer numbers. Brock's Pokemon other Pokemon were preoccupied with battles of their own, attempting to clear the room of Arcanine, Raticate, and Golbat.

Golem staggered backwards after several of the wolves slammed into it at the same time. The rock type swung a punch at one of the Arcanine only for the right hook to be wildly off target. Golem grunted and leapt in front of another Arcanine that was about to spew a gout of flame to shield Brock from the flames.

The craggy boulder took the blast head on and ripped up more flooring to act as a shield.

Ash could only imagine how difficult it was for Golem to shield its trainer and repel the Arcanine at the same time. Golem couldn't keep up the fight forever. He would have to act and give Brock some backup. Just as he was going to issue orders for his team to aid Brock, a swarm of Golbat descended upon them.

Ash gritted his teeth in pain. His eardrums felt like they were going to explode and if the reactions from his Pokemon were any indication, they were suffering as much as he was. He looked up at the Golbat, it didn't even look like they were doing anything but circling them in the air.

 _Why in the world did it feel like his brain was going to explode?_

Orion voiced his irritation with the Golbat with a whinny and scraped his hooves on the ground in agitation. The fire type snorted, releasing radiant orange coals from his maw that caused several of the Golbat to hiss in agony. Aurora followed suit with a blast of cold air that froze their wings and sent the Golbat plummeting to the ground.

Ash breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever the Golbat were doing had stopped.

Orion darted around the battlefield, slamming his hooves down on the disoriented Golbat. Ash winced at the sight of blood left on Ponyta's hooves from trampling the Golbat. Had he _killed_ them? The mere thought made him sick to his stomach.

Ash cursed under his breath at the sight of more Pokemon pouring into the room led by about a dozen more Team Rocket members. Team Rocket also had a few more tricks up their sleeve. In addition to reinforcements of Arcanine, Raticate, and Golbat; Team Rocket were bringing Ekans into the fight.

Ash gritted his teeth and ducked out of the way of a Shadow Ball whizzing towards him. "There's too many of them!" Ash exclaimed.

"Fall back!" Brock shouted back. "My team and I can handle this, I just need you to get out of here!"

Ash frowned. He hated to leave Brock behind, but given the circumstances retreat seemed to be the only answer. There were far more Team Rocket members waiting for them than he could possibly imagine.

"Onix, Steelix, now!" Brock exclaimed. Apparently, Brock had once last ace up his sleeve. The serpents rumbled forward ripping the walls apart upon emerging from the hallway.

The Team Rocket grunts went into a frenzy upon seeing the massive behemoths enter the fray. Brock's reinforcements had arrived and not a moment too soon. He must have been saving them for a psychological advantage.

"Brock wants us to fall back! Clear out as many as you can on the way back, and follow me!" Ash instructed, pressing towards the hallway from which they had entered the main lobby.

Orion shrouded himself in flame and sprinted around the room, bulldozing every single foe in his path with Flame Charge. Aurora, fighting exhaustion, fired blasts of ice and snow at their enemies.

A horde of Raticate and Ekans advanced towards Ash and his team at the behest of the Team Rocket grunts.

"To the hallway!" Ash shrieked, motioning for his Pokemon to follow him. Ash sprinted towards the hallway with his Pokemon providing him cover from behind with barrages of hot coal and frigid winds aimed at their foes. Loud hisses from above caught his attention. The trainer grumbled under his breath.

More Golbat.

The bats flew to the exit, cutting off his escape route. Ash looked around frantically. He was surrounded. Raticate were flanking him from behind and Golbat were blocking the exit ahead of him.

Ash grimaced and leapt out of the way of an attacking Raticate. Orion thrust a hoof in its face to knock it out and spewed hot ash at several of the other charging rats to repel them. A sulfurous scent filled the air that made Ash's eyes water. He wheeled around and spotted a puddle of sludge melting through the marble floor.

Ash felt his heart sink and glanced up. More chunks of sludge plummeted toward him and his team. "Aurora, Powder Snow!" He ordered.

Aurora yipped and fired a wide blast of wind at the falling goop. Upon contact with the cold air, the slime froze and eliminated the threat it posed. Orion fired a cloud of embers into the swarm of Golbat that thinned their numbers and Aurora fired blasts of cold air at the Raticate and Ekans pursuing them to thin their numbers.

He turned to look at the unfolding carnage. Before his mind could process the information, Ash hit the ground with a thud. Something heavy was pinning him to the ground. Sharp claws pierced the skin on his chest. A snarling face met his own and snapped at him repeatedly.

Ash's eyes widened upon recognizing his attacker instantly. The trainer fought back against the Arcanine with all his strength and glanced over at his team. Aurora and Orion appeared to be in the same situation he was.

Ash felt his strength wane as the much stronger creature overpowered him. The trainer shouted in agony. A sharp pain seized his right shoulder, mere inches from his head. Blood trickled from his shoulder and onto the floor. He struggled to get the fire type to let go, but all his efforts were in vain. Was he going to die?

Several loud yips echoed through the museum and a white blur streaked towards Arcanine. Aurora sprung at her trainer's attacker with vehement hatred in her eyes and sunk her teeth into the Arcanine's neck.

The Arcanine howled in agony and released Ash from its grip. Arcanine shook violently to try to shake Aurora off to no avail. Aurora defiantly clamped down harder on Arcanine's neck, restricting its windpipe. Arcanine growled and charged toward a wall, threatening to ram her against a wall.

Aurora released Arcanine from her grip at the last second, causing Arcanine to skid to a halt to narrowly avoid slamming into the wall itself. Suddenly, a powerful kick connected with Arcanine's side. A loud _snap_ came from Arcanine's ribs, causing it to yowl in agony. The wolf turned to address the new threat.

A white shroud of energy cloaked Orion as he rammed into the Arcanine headfirst and slammed it into the wall.

Ash's eyes widened. Had Orion figured out how to use Skull Bash? It certainly appeared like he had. His form was still sloppy, but he had the basic principles of the attack down. He appeared to be capable of generating the energy field needed for the technique.

Arcanine snarled at Aurora and Orion. Aurora retaliated with a growl of her own and lunged at Arcanine again. Arcanine sidestepped Aurora only for two swift kicks to connect with its skull. The fire type staggered backwards and slumped to the ground.

Showing no mercy, Aurora lunged at the wolf a third time and sunk her fangs into its neck to restrict its windpipe. In a matter of seconds, Arcanine went limp either from unconsciousness or outright death–Ash couldn't tell and he wasn't sure he wanted to find out.

With the threat neutralized, Aurora sprinted over to Ash and nudged him in the side with her nose. Orion followed suit and stared at his trainer with an anxious look. Aurora grew even more frantic at the sight of blood leaking from his shoulder and whimpered at Ash. "I'm okay, although that Arcanine really did a number on my shoulder."

Aurora growled at the mention of the fire type. She glared at the wolf with disdain. If looks could kill and provided the Arcanine wasn't already dead, Aurora would have killed the Arcanine instantly. Ash tried to sit up.

His eyes widened and he felt tears flood his eyes. Even the slightest movement made his shoulder feel like it had been stabbed with hundreds of burning knives. The pain was nearly unbearable. "I can't get up." Ash forced out.

Aurora and Orion huddled closer to Ash and leaned up against him. He caught onto their plan almost immediately and placed his arms over them. Ash winced. Half of his body felt like it was touching a stove and the other half felt like it was exposed to subzero weather.

The trainer staggered to his feet and gritted his teeth. Apparently, his shoulder wasn't the only part of his body that was injured. His chest felt like it was bruised or contused. "Thanks," Ash sputtered, glancing down at his team.

Orion voiced his support with a whinny and Aurora followed suit with a high pitched yip.

His mind shifted back to Brock. He couldn't help but wonder what was going on the with the raid. He turned his attention back to the ongoing battle and grinned at what he saw. Team Rocket's numbers were thinning and the league forces had broken through the enemy lines.

The tide had turned as soon as Onix and Steelix sprung into action. Just their mere presence seemed to strike fear into Team Rocket who had no answer for the massive serpents. Their mere roars cut down entire groups of Pokemon and Team Rocket grunts. Team Rocket appeared to be retreating and the league forces pushed the army of Team Rocket forces to the west corridor.

Ash threw his hands up in celebration. It was a very stupid decision and his body decided to remind him it was a stupid decision after he did so. He clutched his shoulder and winced, trying his best not to shriek in agony. He imagined that he was going to need to have his shoulder stitched up, although that wasn't the biggest issue. The biggest issue was that his shoulder wound wouldn't stop bleeding.

He would have to treat the wound, although in order to do that he would need a safe place where he wasn't likely to be ambushed. Ash looked to the end of the hallway and remembered the laboratory.

"I need you two to help me to the laboratory we entered when he got here." Ash instructed. He glanced down at Orion. "Light the way, would you? It's pretty dark in here."

Orion's mane roared to back to life after having doused it prior to helping Ash up. Ash blinked several times, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the change in lighting. Once his eyes adjusted, he shuffled down the hallway.

Aurora leaned up against Ash, serving as a pathetic excuse for a crutch. She was barely the height of his knees. He appreciated her support regardless.

It took a while at his slow pace, but he eventually reached the laboratory and sat down on the floor of the room. Ash shivered. The floor was cold.

Ash threw his jacket on the floor and tore part of his t-shirt off to wrap his shoulder with. He wound the cloth around the bite wound to keep pressure on the injury in hopes of stopping the bleeding. Fortunately, it appeared to be working. The wrapping wasn't a permanent fix, but it would suffice until he could go to the Pokemon Center and have the injury treated properly.

The raid had taken a lot out of him. He felt more exhausted than he ever had in his entire life. He questioned how much of that was due to blood loss and how much of that was just the adrenaline wearing off.

Aurora nudged Ash's hand and looked up at him. The ice type tilted her head inquisitively, almost as if to check on him. Ash flashed her a weak smile. "Tired, if that makes any sense." He muttered.

Orion scraped his hooves on the ground impatiently and snorted. "I bet you'd like to be out there helping the league, huh?" Ash laughed.

Orion brayed in agreement, revealing his passion for the melee. Ash took a deep breath and sighed. "So would I," He admitted.

Blood, carnage, chaos, war–he had seen it all. He had seen devastating wounds and death. He had seen sights that no person should ever see. Much of it would haunt his dreams for a while. He had experienced emotional highs and emotional lows.

He feared defeat and had witnessed a victory.

He wondered how many of those same emotions went through his father's mind and how many of those experiences his father endured when he had participated in league raids. The trainer felt his eyelids grow heavy just thinking about it.

In a matter of seconds, the entire world went black.

* * *

An irritated whinny shook him back to consciousness and a cold touch on his face jolted him awake. Orion and Aurora stated at him with visible concern. "Huh? What happened?" Ash grumbled. The entire raid slowly replayed through his mind and the throbbing pain in his shoulder reminded him of his injuries. He looked around frantically. "How long have I been asleep?!"

Aurora shook her head and blew on the floor to cover the floor with a thin coat of snow. The ice type dragged her paw through the snow in a line that resembled a very crude looking one and made a circle beside it. Ash raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Apparently she could count? Aurora's intelligence never ceased to amaze him.

"One hour?" Ash asked not entirely sure what the symbols represented. Aurora shook her head.

"Half hour?" Ash asked. The ice type shook her head again.

Ash decided to give an even lower figure. "Ten minutes?" Aurora nodded.

Ash let out a sigh of relief. He hadn't slept very long. Ash grunted in agony as he staggered onto his feet once more. He supposed that the raid had to be winding down. Team Rocket's forces had been overwhelmed the moment Brock had decided to sic Onix and Steelix on Team Rocket.

The league forces had broken through when he had retreated to patch up his shoulder. He imagined that the league was likely driving back the remaining Team Rocket forces now or taking them into custody. Now would likely be the best time to check on the status of the raid and report his injury to Brock. Ash doubted he had the strength to make it to the Pokemon Center on his own.

Ash motioned for his team. "Let's go." He muttered as he headed out of the laboratory and down the hallway.

Orion illuminated the way while Aurora meandered ahead to keep an eye on things to make sure they didn't get ambushed. The walk to the lobby felt like it took an eternity.

The lobby was far more peaceful than it had been ten to fifteen minutes earlier. The only activity seemed to be in the west corridor of the museum where the battlefield had moved to. The lobby, however, was virtually empty; aside from the bodies of the dead and wounded. He noted that the room was nowhere near as beautiful as he remembered when he first visited the museum.

Entire chunks of floor were missing, there were cracks in the walls, and the pictures of ancient Kanto along with their frames lay on the floor beside the many bodies. Ash sighed at the sight of the dead and wounded.

He couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt. Lives had been extinguished. Pokemon had been killed by the league and by his own team; but even worse, human lives had been lost. He knew that the Team Rocket grunts hadn't hesitated to try to kill him, his team, Brock, and Brock's team; but he still couldn't help feel remorse.

Ash wished it could have ended differently. Many of the Team Rocket members didn't seem much older than he was. They had so much life ahead of them, but they chose a road that led to death and destruction.

It made him ill.

Why had they chosen the paths they had? Was it for the money? Was it for the power? Was it for some sick desire for fame, even if that fame was in the halls of infamy? Had Team Rocket promised them a future? Ash couldn't determine the reason that people joined the organization.

All he knew was that it wasn't anything new. Men were often deceived by the supposed benefits of rebellion, sin, and crime as they were promised some glorious reward in return for their participation in it.

It also seemed that throughout human history man's nature had been to make mistakes; and mankind just seemed to gravitate towards death, destruction, and evil.

Ash glanced over at the statue of Haruko Saito and drew a bit of encouragement from it. He supposed that war was an inevitable part of life. Someone had to check the advances of tyrants.

Haruko knew what war was like better than almost anyone. He had stood on the battlefield countless times and experienced the perils of war. He had seen both good and bad men die, he had endured hardship like no one else, and because of it he forged a region.

It was an absolute miracle that the statue was still standing, especially considering the wreckage of the room. Ash found it somewhat ironic since it was an accurate picture of the era Haruko lived in and his life story. Despite turmoil and destruction in the world around him, Haruko had survived it all.

He peeked at his team with his peripheral vision. Aurora and Orion seemed equally enthralled with the massive bronze statues, even if they weren't necessarily sure what they were or represented.

"They say that this was the team of the First Champion." Ash remarked, giving his team the details they craved.

Aurora nodded in understanding. Orion snorted and stomped his hooves in excitement.

"Tsukene's leadership," Ash pointed at the Venusaur. "Tsuru's drive," He pointed at the Tangrowth. "And Chuninsain's heart," He pointed at the Chansey. "They all were instrumental in the formation of this region."

Movement in his peripheral vision caught his attention. Ash glanced over at the hall leading to the fossil exhibit. He clenched his fists. He would have recognized black outfit and the red insignia just about anywhere.

Team Rocket was impossible to mistake.

Apparently, not all the grunts in the entrance exhibit had been taken care of. Ash and his team were about to take care of that. As the grunt inched closer, he noticed a few distinguishing features that separated the grunt from the standard Team Rocket foot soldiers.

Unlike the previous Team Rocket foot soldiers, the grunt entering the lobby was female. Her slender figure, curly blonde locks, and white skirt gave it away. She also seemed to have slight variations with her Team Rocket uniform, the most notable distinction being the white and red hat instead of the standard black hat most grunts wore.

She also didn't seem much older than he was, at most she only had two or three years on him.

Ash smirked. The woman must have been suicidal or really stupid. Team Rocket foot soldiers' strength was in numbers. This would be a piece of cake.

Ash pointed at the woman to alert Aurora and Orion of her presence, causing both of them to tense up immediately.

"Hold it right there, you're not going anywhere!"

Aurora growled at the woman and Orion stomped his hooves on the ground. The woman jumped back almost as if frightened, but quickly relaxed and rested her hands on her hips.

"You know, you really shouldn't sneak up on people like that," She scolded, a hint of playfulness in her voice. "You can really startle them."

Ash glanced around cautiously. He was expecting everything to hit the fan. A lone Team Rocket grunt didn't seem normal. He expected some sort of ambush. "You should be afraid." Ash replied.

The young woman giggled and waved her hand in front of her face, almost like she was fanning herself. There was something "off" about her. It only put Ash and his team on edge. "Is that so?" She asked with a hint of amusement in her eyes. It was like she was playing with him.

"What are you doing here?!" Ash demanded.

"The better question would be what is a cute boy like yourself doing here?" The woman purred seductively. "I'm mean isn't stopping Team Rocket a man's job?"

Ash flinched at the reply and felt his face turn red. Was she flirting with him? That was not the response he expected. Ash's eyes widened. Had she gotten closer? He eyed the flower in her hand as it began to spark.

"Get back!" Ash exclaimed to his team as he leapt out of the way of a lightning bolt fired from the device.

Aurora and Orion darted away from the blast of electricity and retaliated with their own attacks. Aurora exhaled a swirling gust of wind at the woman and Orion fired a cloud of burning ash at the woman. Much to Ash's astonishment, the woman leapt and twirled over both attacks.

Ash gritted his teeth. Had he just seen what he thought he saw?

Before he could process the amazing athletic feat, a flicker of crimson light revealed a Pokemon he was completely unfamiliar with. Something reminiscent of a living bouquet emerged from the orb. A feminine Pokemon with roses adorning its head and arms stared down Orion and Aurora with subtle hostility.

"Roserade, I believe we have work to do." The woman stated. Her tone had changed from playfulness to a much more sinister and calculating voice. "Bullet Seed."

A barrage of glowing projectiles flew out from Roserade's mouth, forcing Aurora and Orion on the defensive. Orion countered by cloaking himself in flame and charging at his opponent, forcing the bouquet Pokemon to leap out of the way.

Aurora glared at her foe and attempted to trap Roserade in stasis. Roserade twirled out of the way and retaliated with an ominous violet-gray sphere of energy. Aurora yipped as the blast hit her in the chest and threw her backwards. Aurora whimpered as the force of the explosion threw her into a wall.

Orion whinnied and spewed a cloud of embers from his mouth that singed Roserade. The flowering Pokemon winced from the intense heat. Taking advantage of Roserade being distracted, Orion lowered his head and rushed at Roserade with Skull Bash.

Orion grunted as he rammed into Roserade, flinging the flowering Pokemon up into the air. Ash smirked as a bright pink orb whizzed through the air and detonated upon hitting the airborne Roserade. Aurora was back in the battle.

Roserade hit the floor with a thud and tumbled across the tile. The flowering Pokemon glared daggers at its opponents and staggered back onto its feet.

Ash's eyes widened. Just how powerful was that thing? No Team Rocket grunt had Pokemon that strong. Suddenly, it dawned on him – perhaps he wasn't fighting a Team Rocket lackey. Perhaps, he was fighting someone higher up in the organization.

The only worse realization was the fact that his team was exhausted. They couldn't hold on much longer.

"Enough!" The woman exclaimed, frustration evident in her voice. "I've had enough fun and games with you three. I believe it's time I show you what we're really capable of!"

Roserade sneered at Aurora and Orion. Sharp barbs protruded from the living bouquet's arms before they were launched forward like darts. "Look out!" Ash cried. His warning came too late. The sharp barbs connected with their targets and sunk into Aurora and Orion's body.

He raised his eyebrows in shock. The attack didn't seem to do much. "Aurora, Freeze-Dry! Orion, Ember!" Ash exclaimed.

Two opposite temperature attacks, each of which would work wonders on his opponent. If his opponent's Pokemon was a grass type as he suspected it wouldn't handle rapid temperature changes very well.

Ash frowned. Instead of dodging, Roserade took the attacks head on and shrugged them off like they were nothing. He cursed under his breath. Roserade was far more powerful than he could have possibly imagined. If things couldn't get any worse, Aurora and Orion staggered momentarily and hit the ground with a thud.

Ash suddenly caught onto what had been fired into their bodies. Roserade had poisoned them.

"This is all the Indigo League has to offer?" The woman mocked. "We visit one of their major cities and they only send a child. How pathetic." She glared at Ash. "Finish the boy."

Roserade smirked in reply. A sickeningly sweet smell wafted through the air. Ash coughed from the fumes. He swore he was getting lightheaded and dizzy. Suddenly, sharp barbs hit him in the chest. Ash hissed in pain.

It felt like his chest was on fire and the flames were spreading to the rest of his body. Ash crumpled up and fell face first on the floor. His entire body was screaming in pain and the jarring impact with the floor made his shoulder hurt even more. His vision was blurred to the point where he couldn't even see the floor beneath him and even if he could see it wouldn't have done any good. The room felt like it was spinning.

He tried to get up, but the pain also made it nearly impossible to move. He heard the faint patter of footsteps getting closer.

"You thought you could play the hero and stop me?" The Rocket member's sinister voice echoed in his ear. "You and the Indigo League have no idea just how powerful we are. With each day, Team Rocket grows more and more powerful. Today we showed Pewter our might, but soon we shall show the entire region."

She chuckled. "Let this be lesson to you, never meddle with Team Rocket again."

Ash grunted as he felt a hand grab him by his injured shoulder sending another flood of pain through his body. He wanted to scream and he wanted to cry; but he refused to give his enemy the satisfaction. He hit the ground with a thud. His mind raced for a way out of the situation and a way to turn the tables on his enemy. What would Lance do? What would his father do? What would Haruko do?

"Roserade, leave a little surprise for the league to find when they return. I think they'll get the message." The woman jeered.

Ash felt a lump form in his throat. What in the world was she planning? A faint creaking sound echoed through the room. He couldn't identify what it was for the life of him. He held his breath waiting for the other shoe to drop.

If only it had been a shoe.

Ash grimaced. Something cold and metallic brushed up against his skin. A piece of metal perhaps? His mind barely got a moment to register what it was before crushing weight pinned him to the ground and ground his bones into dust against the marble floor. Agonizing pain that surpassed the pain of his shoulder wound and pain from the poison coursing through his veins shot through every inch of his body.

However, the pain was nothing compared to the helplessness he felt in his heart as he heard footsteps walking away from him. The woman was getting away. He heard the footsteps stop. "How ironic, a monument to a grand protector will be your demise." she remarked.

The footsteps started to get further and further away.

Ash thrashed and squirmed weakly in a desperate attempt to free himself from the crushing weight of the metal grinding him into the floor. The only thing he could muster was weak twitches. The poison flowing through his body had sapped all his strength. Combined with the pain of his wounds and the metal scraping across his flesh, Ash knew that fighting was hopeless.

His mind grew foggier and foggier. He fought the exhaustion and desperately tried to envision a plan of escape. He asked himself several familiar questions. What would Lance do? What would Haruko do? What would his father have done?

Another weight, another pain far more agonizing than any he had ever encountered fell upon him. He wasn't any of those people and wasn't even close to reaching their status. He wasn't a champion at the peak of their power, he wasn't a legend talked about for generations, and he wasn't a heroic soldier performing his duty for his region.

He wasn't even a prodigy whose Pokemon were to be feared for their sheer power, a tactical genius whose team could bend battlefields to their making and control, or a trainer with advanced years of learning under his belt.

He was only a child, and a terrified one at that. He was only Ash Ketchum, a rookie from Pallet Town chasing after a goal that seemed far too large to handle.

And yet, with his helplessness mocking him, he accepted that title and accepted who he was. It meant he had more time to prepare, more time to train, and more time to develop into the trainer he wanted to be. He might not have been any of them now; but if he lived to tell his tale, one day he would be as strong as his role models.

Ash felt his eyelids grow heavy until they sealed shut, pulling him into what seemed like an endless darkness.


	5. The Path Ahead

Ethereal light gleamed down from above and shook Ash from his slumber. He peeked up at the light through squinted eyes. Everything was blurry, but despite his blurry vision it was clear that the radiance was brighter than anything he had ever seen.

He cringed. Was he...dead _?_

Searing pain told him otherwise along with memories of heavy weight falling on top of him and grinding his bones into the cold marble of the museum floor. Every single fiber of his being burned and ached to the point that it was almost unbearable.

A faint beep from the corner of the room caused him to jump from fright. At least it would have made him jump from fright, if he was capable of moving his body.

The faint chirp repeated itself every three to five seconds.

His vision didn't allow him to see the device making the sound, but Ash felt it was safe to assume that the device was a heart monitor. He had seen enough movies to recognize the sound and he could feel something strapped to his chest.

He pieced everything together. He had to be in a hospital room.

The fog clouding his vision gradually lifted, allowing him to see his surroundings. The harsh glow of the fluorescent lights on the ceiling were a bit too much for his eyes to handle. It took a moment for his eyes to acclimate to the lighting.

Ash spied a bag of red liquid hanging from a hook on the ceiling and a digital monitor displaying his vital signs. The medical equipment only confirmed his suspicions. His eyes shifted to the bandages wrapped around his entire body.

He blinked. The white wrappings didn't quite look right. They also seemed too solid and too stiff to be bandages.

It took a moment for his brain to process what the wrapping was. The "bandages" weren't bandages at all, but a full body cast.

Ash felt a lump form in his throat at the realization.

Just how close to death had he been? If the bronze statue had broken every bone in his body on impact, how did it not crush his head like a grape?

The floodgate of questions turned into a deluge from there. Would he be able to walk? Was he going to have permanent nerve damage? Would he ever be able to travel again?

Perhaps the most important question had been saved for last. What happened to the task force and his team?

His head hurt from the amount of questions swirling through his mind. Each question hit with all the force of a raging Tauros, but the last question stung the most.

 _Where was his team?_

They needed medical attention immediately. Whatever poison Ash had been injected with, Aurora and Orion received as well, and that alone sent him into a frenzy.

His chest tightened and he felt a bead of sweat roll down his forehead. Ash's face twisted in panic. His eyes darted around the room, scanning the stainless tiles and the corners of the room for so much as a glimpse of Aurora and Orion.

"Where...are...they?" he sputtered, struggling to sit up to no avail.

"Your team is fine, but you need to lay down. We don't need you to hurt yourself." A feminine voice assured.

Ash felt his eyes well up from pain seizing his entire body. He relaxed slightly, the pain forcing him to lie back down. "How are they doing?" he all but pleaded.

"Your Pokemon are currently recovering in the infirmary here at the Pokemon Center," Nurse Joy added. "They appear to be in stable condition, but they aren't recovering from the dose of poison they received as quickly as I'd hoped. I'm taking some extra precautions, just in case and keeping a careful eye on them."

Ash held his breath. He wasn't sure if he was relieved by Nurse Joy's news or if it made him even more anxious to know his Pokemon were struggling to recover from Roserade's poison.

"You can rest assured that we're doing the best we can to help them."

Ash shut his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to force the thoughts of his team from his mind. Unfortunately, he still couldn't help but feel out of sorts.

He felt strange being without the company of his teammates. He had always been there for them and vice versa. It felt out of place for Aurora not to be staring at him or nudging him with her icy nose.

He missed Orion's excited whinnies, his childish antics, and him trying to drag Aurora both Ash and Aurora into games of tag.

"..." Ash tried to say something to Nurse Joy, but he couldn't muster anything more than a raspy cough. His throat was hoarse and his mouth felt incredibly dry like he hadn't drank water for days.

Just how long had he been out?

"What's going on?" he sputtered, finding it a battle just to speak simple phrases.

"You're at the Pokemon Center here in Pewter City," Nurse Joy answered, her voice carrying soothing tones. "Brock brought you here as soon as he realized what happened."

Ash whimpered in acknowledgment.

"Do you remember anything about the raid? I don't need to know any details, it's mainly to see if you have any symptoms of memory loss associated with head injuries. " Nurse Joy asked, sitting down beside him in a chair with a clipboard in hand.

He closed his eyes and searched his mind for even the smallest memory from the Pewter Museum raid. He got far more than he expected as a flood of memories inundated his mind and filled him with terror.

Ash's eyes widened and his breathing became erratic.

Dead bodies of bloodied Pokemon from the carnage of the raid flashed through his mind. The sight was replaced quickly by a vicious Arcanine threatening to tear him limb from limb and the smell of smoke on the fire type's breath.

His mind shifted to thoughts of metal collapsing and heavy bronze pinning him to the ground. The face of a blonde women flickered through his mind for a split second as he heard the sound of footsteps walking away from him.

Nurse Joy jotted something down on the papers she had in her clipboard before reaching out a placing her hand on his hand. "It's okay," she reassured.

Nurse Joy's voice snapped him out of his flashbacks as a stream of tears rolled down his face.

"I remember everything," he whispered.

Nurse Joy gave him a sympathetic look leaned closer to comfort him, much like his mother tended to do when he was young. The physician's eyes began to well up with tears as well.

There were just some things that people, let alone children, weren't meant to see.

* * *

Nurse Joy put off the test until he was capable of composing himself. It took him ten minutes or so, but he was now in a state where he was capable of answering questions. Whatever drugs had been pumped into his system were wearing off and the terror from his repressed memories were finally gone.

"Do you feel nauseous, have blurry vision, or feel dizzy?" Nurse Joy asked.

"No," Ash answered promptly.

"That likely means you didn't suffer any brain damage, at least enough to cause memory loss. We're still going to monitor you to make sure." Nurse Joy stated, scribbling a few more notes down. "If you need anything, just let me know, okay?"

"Yeah," Ash replied with a weak smile.

Nurse Joy raised a syringe and needle. Ash's eyes widened, but he felt too drained to resist.

"I'm going to have to run some tests and give you another dose of antibiotic and antidote." Nurse Joy explained. "Don't worry, this won't hurt too badly. You're going to be feeling better in no time."

"Thank you," Ash muttered, his voice trailing off. "For everything...uh..."

He couldn't help but feel guilty as he realized that he didn't know his caretaker's first name.

"Elizabeth, it's Elizabeth Joy."

He nodded, eyeing the needle on the syringe warily.

Ash winced as the needle prodded his arm. A rush of cold flooded through his body before his eyes grew heavy and he faded into unconsciousness.

* * *

Ash glanced around at the tile floors and white walls of his hospital room. Another day of solitary confinement.

He felt alone, even if Nurse Joy frequently checked up on him and gave him company. The room felt empty without his team and his inability to move around was making him restless.

He wanted to cry. Guilt, anger, resentment – every single negative emotion he could think of was swirling about inside him. His lack of sleep gave him plenty of time to dwell on the league raid and it was killing him.

Every single thing he could have done differently played through his mind along with his own weakness. If he only hadn't been so rash and avoided the museum altogether – if only he had been stronger.

Brock had been right, he wasn't ready to take on Team Rocket and it cost him.

He remembered his vow on death's doorstep to grow strong enough to leave his own legacy on par with the legacies' of his role models. The proclamation was laughable.

He wasn't even strong enough to protect himself. How was he supposed to become Pokemon Master? If his arms weren't broken, he would have punched something.

A soft tapping came from the door. "Come in," Ash called out.

"How are you doing?"

Ash recognized the masculine voice instantly by its solemn tone and his eyes simply confirmed who he expected to find.

Brock flashed a weak smile. Judging by the look on the gym leader's face, he was anything but happy. If anything, he was a mess. His hair looked a bit disheveled and he had dark spots under his eyes from sleep deprivation.

"I'm fine," Ash muttered, smiling back at the gym leader with a weak smile of his own.

"Come on, there's no way you're fine after something like that." Brock corrected, seeing straight through the facade.

Ash sighed. "I guess I've been better. I feel like I've been trampled by Tauros and hit by a bus."

Brock nodded. "Considering, I can't say I'm surprised."

The room fell silent, with both Brock and Ash grappling for words.

"Have they been taking care of you here?" Brock asked, concern taking over his features.

Ash chuckled inwardly at the contrast in personality from the Brock he had come to know at the gym and the one he had come to know now. "Nurse Joy makes sure to check on me every hour, give or take a couple minutes."

"You need anything?" Brock asked.

"I could use some water, my mouth feels dry. Nurse Joy got me some earlier but that was an hour ago." Ash said, pointing to the cup on the nightstand beside him with a glance. "The cup is right there."

Brock picked up the styrofoam cup. "I'll be right back. Do you want ice?" he asked.

"No thanks," Ash said.

Brock nodded. "I'll be back in a second." he promised, leaving the room.

Ash yawned and glanced at the wall clock. His eyelids felt heavy as he waited for Brock to return. He surrendered to exhaustion and closed his eyes, drifting off before he even realized it.

* * *

The full frame of carnage and death immediately presented its cruel memories to him once more.

He saw them again. Bloodied Pokemon and human beings crying out at him in a sea of carnage before the fangs of a vicious Arcanine threatened to tear him limb from limb.

The bruising reminder of bronze metal collapsing and pinning him to the ground haunted him once more. The echo of footsteps walking away from him rang in his ears once more, as the Team Rocket member left him to die under the destroyed statue of Haruko.

Ash gasped and jolted awake – his heart pounding in his chest and his skin feeling cool and clammy. It took him a moment to gain his bearings and calm down from the surge of adrenaline pumping through his body.

Brock noticed the horror on Ash's face. "It's alright, whatever you saw was just a dream."

Ash glanced over and found Brock sitting on a chair over by the window. He blinked and everything came back to him, causing his face to pale. How long had he been out and how long had Brock been sitting there?

"I'm so sorry, I must have drifted off when you left to get me a cup of water."

Brock chuckled. "It's okay, you're probably tired. Nurse Joy said that you've had trouble sleeping, it's good that you finally got some sleep. Rest will help you recover faster."

Ash nodded. "I hope you haven't been waiting there for a long time, I'm sure you've got a lot on your plate with the Pewter Museum incident..." he said, only to be interrupted.

"I haven't been here that long, you've only been sleeping for about ten minutes. But even if you were out longer than that, I'm not just going to leave you here at the hospital alone. I'd make sure any of my league operatives were given good care and accompany them during their recovery, I owe you that much."

Ash smiled. He couldn't help but admire Brock for his kind heart and sense of justice. The man was like the brother he never had.

"I'm sure Nurse Joy already checked with you about your memory, but I wanted to check up with you on some things. How much of the raid do you remember?" Brock asked. "If you don't want to talk about it right now, I understand."

"I remember all of it, it's forgetting it that's the issue." Ash said, a lump forming in his throat.

Brock gave him a sympathetic look. "If you continue having issues, I want you to let a physician or someone associated with the league know. This isn't something you want setting in."

Ash nodded. Another difficult question swirled in his mind. "Does it get easier from here?"

"I'll be honest, you don't forget stuff like this. I'd like to tell you it gets easier, but that's not always how it works. Memories like these are something that will never quite heal, but you can learn to let go of the pain and put it behind you." he said.

Ash took a deep breath. That's what he was afraid of.

"I wasn't expecting to see so many bodies and so much bloodshed." he whispered, his eyes darting to the window as he tried to look away. Memories of near death began to flicker through his mind once more.

Brock swallowed. The gym leader took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak, but struggled to find any words to say. "I..."

Instead, he reached out and placed a hand on Ash's shoulder in an effort to comfort him.

Ash felt his heart sink even more as memories of Haruko's statue crushing him resurfaced. "And I felt so useless!" he hissed.

As much as the carnage and horrors of war bothered him, that wasn't the main reason the memories of the raid bothered him.

The agony of failure hurt far more than the wounds inflicted upon him by the statue of Haruko ever could. He failed to stop that woman and she escaped because of it. Whoever that woman was, she was now free to threaten the rest of the world, free to inflict the same pain he felt onto others.

"I'm so sorry," Brock whispered, with heavy remorse in his tone.

Ash steeled his jaw. A single question lingered on his mind and he needed it to be answered.

"How in the world did I..." Ash whimpered, struggling to even mutter the rest of the sentence. "Survive?"

Brock winced at the question – it wasn't something any trainer his age should have to ask. "I talked to Nurse Joy about that about an hour ago. Apparently, it has to do with the way you were positioned under the statue, you were fortunate enough that the statue didn't land on your head," Brock said. "Had the weight landed on your head, it likely would have been lethal since it would have crushed your skull."

Ash felt a lump form in his throat. He was almost afraid to ask the question he was thinking. "Will I be able to walk?" Ash whispered.

Brock nodded. "I discussed this with Nurse Joy earlier as well, although your body took a lot of damage it's nothing that can't be treated. Nurse Joy has already injected you with Ditto cells that will help you recover faster."

Ash tensed at the mention of Ditto cells being used in his body. "Ditto cells?" he repeated, an air of skepticism in his voice.

Was such a procedure even safe?

"In severe cases, such as your situation, Ditto cells are applied to help replace lost nerve tissue and help damaged nerves heal faster. Ditto cells have the ability to take on attributes of DNA and duplicate DNA, the medical community experimented with this knowledge and has discovered that Ditto cells can even replicate human cells." Brock said.

"So what's that mean for my recovery time?" Ash asked.

"It's going to take some time to recover and build up lost muscle strength again, but you're going to regain your full physical range of motion," Brock answered. "Consider yourself, very lucky."

He was quite relieved that he hadn't lost his ability to walk from the incident; although he still a bit uneasy. He realized just how close to death he was and for that he felt guilty.

Had he thought of the consequences? Had he thought of the dilemma the league would have had if he had died on the raid?

Had he thought of the risk of him compromising the mission had he froze up?

What would his mother have said if she had found out the news of his involvement in the raid? What would his mother have done if he had died?

Ash cursed under his breath.

He should never have been on the raid to begin with. He was nowhere near ready to handle the task of dealing with Team Rocket. He had overestimated his abilities and it cost him. He had no business being involved with the league – at least not yet anyway.

"I'm sorry,"

Brock gave him a perplexed look, barely able to believe that Ash of all people would be apologizing to him given the circumstances.

"If anyone should be sorry Ash, it should be me. I'm the Pewter City gym leader and I promised to keep you safe on that mission. I failed you – I shouldn't even have let you join the raid party to begin with because you just aren't ready for that sort of thing," he began. "I went against my better judgment because I panicked. I knew Pewter was low on manpower and I was desperate for more numbers. I overestimated myself and underestimated the situation. It's my fault that you're injured and it's my fault that you nearly lost your life. For that, I should be the one apologizing."

"I shouldn't have volunteered." Ash retorted. "I wanted to help, but I didn't stop to consider all the things that could have went wrong. I could have messed up the mission, and I could have died."

Another masculine voice rang out from the entrance. "But you did volunteered, you helped, for the most part the mission succeeded, and most importantly you survived."

Ash's eyes shifted to a rugged man standing at the end of his hospital bed with a grin on his face. His facial features, his squinted eyes, his spiky brown hair – Ash had only seen those type of features in Brock and Forrest.

"Flint?" Ash muttered under his breath, recognizing the man instantly from newspaper clippings of his days as Pewter City's gym leader.

"What you did took guts, few trainers would have put their teams and themselves on the line like you did. I know that you're upset about what happened, but you should be proud. It might seem like a minimal contribution, but you really helped Pewter City with your actions."

Ash frowned.

The man had to be joking with him or trying to make him feel better. Most of his time on the raid consisted of running away and taking out poorly trained fodder Pokemon commanded by Team Rocket. The rest of it was spent as a helpless victim pinned underneath a statue.

"The task force managed to take down quite a few Team Rocket members. The league will be interrogating the living Team Rocket members involved in the museum attack. Any information we get will be because of the effort of the league's task force." Flint continued.

He pointed at Ash.

"That task force included you, which means your efforts helped the league. You're obviously not ready to help the league out in an official capacity, but your actions today were a good start. Name a single rookie trainer that would have been able to handle that situation and get out of it alive – there aren't many."

Ash sighed and took a moment to consider his words.

He guessed he was right. Few trainers would have gotten out of the situation alive and few would have managed as much as Ash had.

It was obviously not a situation he should repeat or one he wanted to get into again; but the outcome was favorable given the circumstances.

Flint quickly turned his focus to Brock and marched over to his son. He stretched out his arm to Brock and rested his hand on his shoulder.

"I know you're not happy with your leadership abilities and decision making, but this was a new situation for you. You have only had this job for a year. You've got a lot more to learn, but don't sell yourself short. You got the job done and you handled the situation fairly well given the situation. There's a lot of people with far more experience than you that would have froze and others who would have made even worse decisions."

Flint paused a moment to let his words sink in before continuing.

"Considering that you were low on manpower for the museum raid, especially for a squad of Team Rocket members that large, I'd say you did a good job."

Brock smiled, even if only a little.

"I was going to ask for more information about that." Ash interjected.

Flint took a deep breath and glanced around briskly to check for other people.

"Typically, we wouldn't share this information with the public or anyone without a security clearance; however, I think seeing that you're already involved heavily in this that you have a right to know. That being said, what I'm about to share with you should be kept private. We don't want to spread panic and we definitely don't want Team Rocket to get any ideas on how to conduct future operations."

Ash nodded in acknowledgment.

Flint paused momentarily and rubbed his chin while searching for the right words. "I was deployed to Mt. Moon along with a task force of league operatives to investigate reports of Team Rocket activity at the behest of Giovanni. Giovanni was becoming increasingly dismayed about the reports of Team Rocket activity in Pewter and felt it was in Kanto's best interests that the claims be investigated and any Team Rocket members be stopped immediately." He explained. "Naturally, I agreed as it was a potential threat to Pewter City."

"Was there anything at Mt. Moon?" Ash asked.

"I didn't find a whole lot at Mt. Moon that would point to Team Rocket activity per say, although my absence allowed Team Rocket to strike Pewter City at a time of vulnerability." Flint answered, a scowl forming on his face. He clearly wasn't happy about leaving Pewter open to attack.

"We talked to the league about that aspect of the situation and the league suspects that Team Rocket split us up intentionally. Giovanni has even suggested that the Mt. Moon operations were just a false flag to divert manpower from Pewter City. From now on, the league is going to exercise extreme caution in how task forces are mobilized to prevent another situation like this." Brock added.

There was one thought that continued to bother Ash. What was Team Rocket's motive?

It still wasn't making much sense why Team Rocket would attack Pewter City of all places.

The museum may have had a lot of artifacts, but nothing that would warrant a large scale operation of that magnitude. Team Rocket could have just as easily set up shop at Mt. Moon.

"What exactly did Team Rocket want with Pewter City anyways?" Ash asked. "Wouldn't setting up at Mt. Moon have made more sense?"

Flint pulled a pamphlet from his pocket and held it up for Ash to see. "Are you familiar with the meteor exhibit?"

Ash's eyes widened. He should have known!

If the meteors from Mt. Moon were truly connected to mega evolution, that meant they were valuable and powerful.

"You mean, _that's_ what they were after?"

Flint nodded and tucked the pamphlet away in his pocket. "In hindsight, we should have realized this and increased security." Brock remarked. "There's a big market for something like that, especially if it is connected to mega evolution."

"It wasn't until investigators checked the second floor of the museum that they even found that anything was missing and even then it took them by surprise because apparently Team Rocket only took one of the Mt. Moon meteor samples." Flint added.

"Is that what...?" Ash muttered under his breath. He flinched as he put all the pieces together. The woman appearing from the other side of the museum flashed through his mind along with the task force lured to the other side of the museum. "Have you filed a police report about my involvement in the raid and the time line of events?"

Brock shook his head. "We were going to have you file a report with us, but we needed to see if you still remembered the incident and if you were even able to deliver an account of the raid before we could even think of filing a report of your involvement."

Flint raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Any reason you're asking?"

"I have more information to add, it might add some clarity to the case," Ash answered. "You're both probably wondering how I got underneath the statue of Haruko."

"We were going to ask you about that eventually, but only when you felt well enough to give your report of what happened on the raid." Brock replied.

"The statue incident happened after I tried to rejoin the task force. I didn't think I had the strength to get to the Pokemon Center by myself after I was attacked by Team Rocket when I tried to retreat. After patching myself up, I tried to make back to the league operatives and hoped the action was over." Ash paused to catch his breath. "It was at that moment that I stumbled across one more Rocket and tried to subdue her. Her Roserade was stronger than all the other Team Rocket Pokemon my team fought combined. I thought it would be an easy fight, but she managed to evade my team's attempts to subdue her like she was some sort of trained gymnast."

Flint rubbed his chin in thought. "Gymnast, huh?" he interrupted.

"You don't think?" Brock murmured under his breath.

"Roserade beat both of my Pokemon with ease, but before she left the Rocket member decided to try to finish me off by throwing me underneath the statue of Haruko to make a statement to the league that Team Rocket was coming out of the shadows or something like that." Ash continued, ignoring Brock and Flint talking back and forth with each other.

"Can you remember what the woman looked like?" Flint asked.

Ash nodded. "She dressed like a normal Team Rocket grunt, she had blonde hair, and violet eyes. She also carried some sort of strange flower with her that discharged electricity."

Brock scowled. "That's her alright – they brought their A-game for the Pewter Op."

"You know that woman?" Ash frowned.

"You probably don't need us to tell you that you ran into a Team Rocket executive because you got a taste of her skill. Executives aren't just random recruits, but masters of their craft that receive top notch training. Unfortunately, you just happened to run into one of the most dangerous executives in the entire organization." Flint explained.

"So who is she?" Ash asked.

"Domino," Flint answered. "Everything from her Pokemon to her athleticism fit the bill. The description of her weapon only confirms it."

"The league isn't going to be happy about this news," Brock grumbled. "Giovanni is already furious about the Viridian Pokemon Center incident. He's going to hit the ceiling when he finds out Domino struck Pewter City and that she's on the loose."

"None of us like the fact that Team Rocket is growing bolder, but the fact we don't like it doesn't change the fact that Team Rocket is gaining traction." Flint retorted.

"What does this mean for Kanto going forward?" Ash asked.

Flint stiffened at the question and glanced over at Ash. He opened his mouth to reply, but words wouldn't come out of his mouth.

Ash felt a lump form in his throat. Uncertainty wasn't the reaction he wanted to see, but it was the reaction he should have expected. No one knew what an emboldened Team Rocket would or could do to Kanto.

It had been a decade or more since peace had been threatened in Kanto. War was the last thing on the minds of those living in Kanto, but Team Rocket's meteoric rise was making conflict a possibility.

"We'll see," Flint hesitated. "We can only hope for the best and prepare for the worst."

Ash closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He knew Flint was right, but the uncertainty of the future lingered in his mind. He supposed that both he and the Kanto region would deal with the troubles when they actually arrived.

A familiar pink-haired physician shuffled into the room with a clipboard in hand. She shot a playful leer at Flint and Brock. "I think you two have had enough visitation time. The poor kid is probably exhausted now from all the questioning." Nurse Joy giggled.

"We weren't too harsh on him, he should be fine." Flint chuckled. "We were mainly checking up on him."

Nurse Joy waved him off and shook her head. "It's fine, I just need to change out his IV in a little bit and I wanted to check up on him."

Brock glanced at Nurse Joy, causing Ash to mentally groan from the expectation of a hormonal Brock pestering the physician. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see the train wreck to come.

"Make sure to keep an eye on him and I'd like you to keep me posted about his condition," Brock instructed, a heavy sense of concern in his voice. "If he so much as runs a temperature, I'd like to know about it."

He paused in the doorway. "And Elizabeth, make sure he gets everything he needs," he added.

"You can count on it," Nurse Joy assured.

A smile formed on Brock's face. "That's all I needed to hear," he replied as he headed out the door.

Ash peeked out at the world around him. He couldn't help but be surprised by the level of professionalism from Brock when interacting with Nurse Joy and judging by Flint's reaction he was not alone.

"Hope you like visitors, because we're going to be dropping in here frequently." Flint said, breaking the silence during their contemplation regarding Brock's demeanor.

Ash smiled his first genuine smile in a long time. After what he had been through, he appreciated the company. "Of course, I'm looking forward to it," he said.

"Alright, I need to run some tests and give you another dose of your medications." Nurse Joy reminded, turning Ash's attention from Flint to her standing at his bedside.

Ash frowned as he eyed the syringe in her hand and the massive needle at the end of the syringe. To say he was reluctant to hold out his arm was an understatement.

"Don't look so upset, I've got just the thing that will help you get your mind off the needle."

Ash raised an eyebrow. What could she possibly have that could distract him from _that_?

His question was answered by the sight of a Vulpix as white as snow and a horse with a mane of orange flame peeking at Ash from the doorway. Ash's eyes widened as they darted over to Ash's bedside and stood beside his bed.

The Vulpix yipped at him repeatedly and the Ponyta whinnied in excitement.

Ash felt his heart flutter in excitement.

Aurora pressed her icy nose against his right arm. Orion followed suit by gently nudging Ash with his head. He couldn't move his arms to pet his team, but that didn't matter at the moment. It was nice just to see them again and know that they were okay.

Ash winced slightly from the sensation of a pin prick in his arm and glanced over to see Nurse Joy injecting another dose of antidote into his arm.

He chuckled. He had to give her credit, her plan had worked and he hadn't felt a thing.

* * *

Physical therapy took longer than he anticipated and as a result he was in Pewter City far longer than he intended. He hoped to be back on the road in a week, but his recovery time had taken up two weeks.

Even with Ditto cell treatment to speed up his recovery time, it took a long time for his bones to heal and it was taking a long time for him to rebuild his muscle strength after his muscles had atrophied from inactivity.

The only positives from the experience was that Ash was able to get to know Brock and Flint even better. He liked their family and appreciated their character. There was a lot to learn from people like them, not only as a trainer but in regards to life.

He supposed that in the long run that him being in Pewter for an extended amount of time was a good thing. In a sense had the events of the museum never happened, he wouldn't have established such a close friendship with Brock and Flint.

He would miss the friends he made in Pewter.

Speaking of which – Ash glanced down at his Pokenav. It hadn't changed and he had yet to receive a call. He was a bit surprised, Brock and Flint promised to call him before they stopped by for one last visit before he left for Cerulean.

He chalked up them running late to work and league tasks. Not that it mattered to Ash, it actually worked in his favor since he hadn't finished packing yet.

The trainer reached under the bed for his backpack.

A pair of light blue eyes watched him from underneath one of the chairs in the corner of the room. Before he could react, a white blur lunged at Ash and pounced on his back to pin him to the floor.

Ash wheezed, stunned by the unexpected attack. A warm tongue and cold nose touched his face. Aurora's sky blue eyes stared into his eyes. "Okay, okay, you're happy to see me, I get it but is this necessary every day?" Ash laughed.

Orion whinnied and joined in on the fun by resting a hoof on Ash's back to help pin him to the floor.

A faint knock came from the door. "Okay, you guys beat me!" Ash laughed. "Can you let me get up so I can get the door?"

Aurora and Orion let their trainer go, both of them having had enough fun for one day. Ash darted over to the door and opened it. A subtle smirk formed on his face at the sight of his expected guest. "Flint?"

"In person!" The former gym leader declared with a smile.

Brock stepped forward as well and waved to Ash. "And Brock," he chimed in, flashing a grin of his own.

"Mind if we stop in for a minute or two?" Flint asked.

"Come in," Ash invited, motioning for them to enter the room. "How are you?"

"Fine, just fine," Flint answered, wandering over to one of the chairs in the room where he was greeted by a friendly Aurora and Orion.

"We wanted to check up on how you're doing and talk a bit since you said you were leaving soon." Brock said.

"How are you feeling and how did physical therapy go?" Flint asked.

"Everything is fine, Nurse Joy's physical therapy has been tough over the last week; but I'm feeling stronger than ever!"

Flint smiled at him and flashed him a quick thumbs up. "Good, that's exactly what I like to hear!" he beamed.

Brock gave Ash a skeptical look, scowling slightly. "Are you having any unusual aches or pains?"

Ash shook his head. "I'm a little sore since my muscles need to get used to exercise again, but I feel fine other than that."

"Any unusual symptoms or weakness in your bones? I know Nurse Joy probably examined you, but I don't want you to push yourself too hard."

"Everything seems to be as it should be." Ash assured.

Brock's smile returned, relieved to get a confirmation regarding Ash's recovery. "Just try to take it easy the first few days, it never hurts to take some extra precaution."

Flint shook his head as he rested his hand on Brock's shoulder. "You know better than to worry," he chuckled before pointing to Ash. "This guy can handle anything you throw at him because he's tough. He's like an unmovable mountain."

"I just don't want him to overexert himself and wind up in the hospital again." Brock said, a hint of irritation in his voice. "There is a difference between being tough and being reckless."

Ash smirked. He couldn't help but be amused by Brock's parental instincts kicking in – an obvious result of him being an older brother.

Flint sighed in defeat. "I guess Brock is right, be careful out there. You've got a bright future, don't ruin it by getting hurt or by getting yourself into trouble."

"I will try my best to stay out of trouble." Ash promised.

Flint glanced over at Brock. "See, he's going to be fine!"

Brock glanced at his father and cleared his throat, signaling for a change of topic. "Should we…" he whispered, his voice trailing off as he gestured to his belt.

Ash gave Brock a perplexed look as Flint reached down into his pocket.

"Brock and I were talking the other day and we decided that we wanted to give you something for your valiant efforts in the Pewter City raid." Flint said.

"What kind of something?" Ash chuckled.

"Just a small reward," Flint replied as he pulled something out of his pocket and hid it inside his clenched hand.

He reached out for Ash's hand and placed an object in his palm. Ash recoiled from the cold touch of the metallic object. His eyes widened as he examined the object in his hand.

"A Poke Ball?" he muttered in disbelief.

Flint said that his reward would be small, receiving a Pokemon was no small gift.

"Thank you," Ash sputtered, truly appreciative of the trust that they placed in him to give him another Pokemon. "This doesn't seem like a small reward,"

Flint smirked. "We offered a small reward, the Pokemon contained inside that Poke Ball is technically small." he chuckled. "That still qualifies as a small reward, right? Anyways, what good is the TM for Rock Tomb if you can't use it?"

Ash ran his thumb across the polished surface of the Poke Ball. Aurora and Orion eyed the red and white orb with a spark of curiosity in their eyes, clearly interested in meeting their new teammate. "What Pokemon is this?" he asked.

"There's only one way to find out." Brock replied with a smirk, pointing to the Poke Ball.

Ash waved off Aurora and Orion as they inched closer to him. "Back up, you don't want to scare it," he chided.

Orion stomped his hooves on the floor like a disappointed child while Aurora opted for a comfy viewing position on the bed. Ash pressed his thumb against the release button on the orb, causing the Poke Ball to increase in size before it opened. A flash of light illuminated the room.

An olive, reptilian Pokemon glanced around the room with a dopey look on its face. Ash gave the creature a once over.

It looked familiar. Its armored exterior and the dull spike crowning its head were unmistakable. He swore he saw it in a book or on television once, but he couldn't quite remember the exact species aside from the fact it was native to Johto.

Upon seeing the amount of eyes staring at him, the Pokemon shrank back and channeled a wave of energy through its body that hardened its skin even further.

It clearly didn't like the attention.

Orion gave the Pokemon a friendly whinny and greeted it with several bobs of his head. The reptile's eyes bulged and the creature stumbled backwards in fright. Orion lowered his head in shame, feeling a twinge of guilt for startling the reptile even more and offending a potential friend.

Aurora leapt down from her perch on the bed and blew a wisp of cold air in Orion's face to get the fire type to back away from the reptile before greeting the Pokemon with a friendly woof.

"Ash, this is Larvitar," Flint stated, pointing to the reptilian Pokemon.

"Larvitar, huh?" he muttered, reaching for his Pokedex.

Ash pointed the scanners of the Pokedex at Larvitar to learn more about the creature. The screen of the tablet flicked momentarily to display the species before speaking in its cold, robotic monotone.

 _Larvitar, the rock skin Pokemon – Larvitar are generally born deep underground and are known for consuming soil to obtain the nutrients they need. It was once stated by the scientific community that Larvitar could consume an amount of soil around the mass of a small mountain, but modern studies have debunked that urban legend. Nevertheless, Larvitar need lots of minerals to grow and will rest once it has obtained the amount of nutrients it needs to evolve._

 _Larvitar is male and has the Guts ability which increases offensive capabilities in a pinch. Larvitar knows Bite, Leer, Iron Defense, and Stealth Rock._

Ash smirked – he could work with that moveset.

He knelt down in front of Larvitar, causing the shy rock type to back away from Ash. "I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to talk. I want to get to know you, I want to be friends.." Ash whispered, maintaining a reassuring tone to try to put Larvitar at ease.

The rock type grumbled a bit and relaxed at the idea of talking with the trainer. Larvitar was still nervous from all of the eyes watching him, but Ash's assurances took some of the edge off.

"My name is Ash Ketchum," he stated, pointing to himself with his thumb. The trainer pointed over at Aurora. "This is my friend, Aurora," He turned his attention to Orion who was standing beside Aurora and pointed his finger at the fire type. "And that is my friend, Orion. We're training to get stronger because I want to become a Pokemon Master."

Larvitar replied with a contented grunt. Orion let out a proud whinny only for Larvitar to shrink back again.

Aurora puffed another blast of cold air in Orion's face for startling the rock type. Orion glowered at Aurora for interfering and stomped his hooves, resulting in another blast of cold air in the face for the Ponyta.

Orion let out a disgruntled whinny and snorted a plume of smoke in Aurora's direction. The Vulpix sputtered from the smoke, but did her best to ignore her teammate and turned her attention back to their new teammate.

"Iron Defense and Stealth Rock, huh? Was this a Pokemon that was bred?" Ash asked.

"Yes, in a matter of fact, he was recently hatched. I recovered Larvitar at Mt. Moon when he was an egg during my task force's investigation of Mt. Moon. He's a bit shy and clumsy since he's still young, but a good trainer should be able to help him come out of his shell and gain confidence." Flint replied.

"So you think that I can instill confidence in Larvitar and help him grow?" Ash asked.

"That's right, but whether or not you two decide to take that path is up to you and Larvitar." Flint answered.

"Larvitar needs someone who can push him while caring for him at the same time. You've shown yourself more than capable of that with your Pokemon." Brock added.

Ash grinned. He was up to the challenge if Larvitar was.

The trainer knelt down beside the rock type. "How would you like to train and travel with me?"

Larvitar took a moment to think it over and glanced over at Ash's other Pokemon. Orion tapped his hooves on the ground and voiced his favor of the offer with a whinny. Aurora seconded the motion with a soft bark.

Larvitar glanced up at Ash. All the attention that Ash and his team was giving him was unnerving but he liked them anyways. They were kindhearted and they were offering him a chance to be a part of their group.

Larvitar voiced his agreement with a grunt, resulting in a grin from Ash. "Welcome to the team, Larvitar," he said before turning his attention to Flint and Brock.

He was grateful for them. Flint and Brock had supported him emotionally during his recovery, they made sure he was taken care of, and they encouraged him throughout his physical therapy. Having them give him a Pokemon was only a bonus.

He would miss both of them tremendously.

"Thank you for everything that you've done, it means a lot to me!"

"Take care of yourself," Brock said, holding out his hand.

"I will," Ash promised, shaking the gym leader's hand.

"You've still heading to Cerulean City, right?" Flint asked.

"Yeah, I want to win the gym badge," Ash replied.

"Are you taking the Mt. Moon route?" Brock asked.

"Probably, it looks like the shortest route to Cerulean." Ash said.

"Try to stick the main paths, I know it can be tempting to explore the other routes; but it's an easy way to get lost." Brock said, a hint of concern in his voice once more. "It probably wouldn't hurt to stock up on supplies either and have extra on hand."

"I didn't plan on staying there any longer than I have to, but I'll definitely stock up." Ash assured.

"Good luck in Cerulean, Ash – if you're ever in the neighborhood or are interested in a battle feel free to drop by," Flint said. "And I'm sure Brock could use the training, he's getting lazy lately."

Brock raised an eyebrow at his smirking father and shook his head. "Look who's talking," he retorted with a smirk of his own. "Don't listen to him, he doesn't know what he's talking about; but I would appreciate a rematch some time."

"Thanks, I'll have to take you up on that!" Ash exclaimed.

Flint motioned for Brock as he turned to leave. "We won't keep you too long, we just wanted to stop in and say goodbye."

"Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it," Ash said as he watched them exit the room.

He felt a sense of pride while watching Brock and Flint leave. They had taught him many valuable lessons that he would never forget.

* * *

Ash grunted as he hoisted his backpack over his shoulders. The bag felt far heavier than it had the previous times he traveled, causing him to stumble momentarily.

A cold nose prodded his leg before the chill was banished by radiant heat. Aurora and Orion nudged him, helping him steady himself.

He smiled at his companions. "Thanks," he mouthed, eliciting a friendly bark and whinny from them.

He looked at the silhouette of Pewter City shrouded by the sunset and took a deep breath as he pressed towards his destination with his friends by his side.

They had one more stop before they could leave.

He shuffled down the street before stopping in front of the ruins of the Pewter City Museum of Science – or at least what remained of the building that lay beyond the police barricade. He wanted one last glimpse at the battlefield that had been his first taste of the front lines.

Ash, Orion, and Aurora tensed at the sight of the rubble that was now the museum. "Let it all sink in," he whispered.

It was in Pewter that they got their first taste of the perils of war and the face of evil; but it was in Pewter City that they forged an identity and ideology.

He saw blood, gore, wreckage, and senseless destruction. Team Rocket had taken lives, destroyed historical artifacts without a second thought, tried to kill him, and stole from the museum. In all likelihood, they were going to weaponize the meteor they stole.

On the other hand, he saw many great things.

He saw heroes with a drive to do what was right no matter what the cost. Brock and Flint lived like the role models Ash looked up to. They stayed with him the entire time he was recovering, they dedicated themselves to mentoring others, and they dedicated themselves to protecting the region.

They were the type of trainers that his father would be proud of – the type of trainer that Ash desired to become. It made his father's ideals resonate with him that much more.

Ash pressed the release button on Larvitar's Poke Ball to let him out. The rock-type glanced around, somewhat unnerved from being abruptly released from stasis.

Larvitar didn't seem to appreciate surprises.

"I just wanted you to be able to see this along with the rest of the team." Ash explained, unable to avert his eyes from the museum ruins. "This is why we fight."

Larvitar grunted, staring at Ash and the rest of the team with a perplexed look. The fixation on the ruins didn't make sense to the armored Pokemon, but he pretended to understand by feigning interest in the charred stone rubble.

Ash envied Larvitar slightly. He could tell Larvitar didn't understand the emotional weight behind visiting the museum since he hadn't been involved in the fight for survival that he and the older members of his team involved themselves in.

He missed that innocence.

Unfortunately, Larvitar's innocence wouldn't last forever. Whether it was because of a brutal Pokemon battle or another conflict with criminals, there was bound to be some sort of event that forced Larvitar to mature like the rest of them had.

It was just part of life.

Ash glanced down at his new team member with a hint of concern on his face. The rock type grumbled at him, causing him to smile as a sense of determination welled up inside of him.

While he knew that Larvitar would have to endure the same adversity that their small group had in Pewter, he would do his very best to make sure that Larvitar would be ready when that time came.

His father's ideals of protecting those that couldn't protect themselves would guide him and help him prepare Larvitar for the day that he would need to shoulder more responsibility.

And whenever he questioned what those principles looked like in action, he would always have a reference point due to Brock and Flint.

A cold touch snapped him out of his thoughts and shifted his attention to the fox sitting beside him, nudging his leg with her nose. Aurora yipped and glanced at the roads behind them almost as a subtle reminder that they needed to leave.

Orion followed suit, whinnying impatiently. He was finished with the trip down memory lane and was ready to move on.

Ash nodded to the group and flashed them a thumbs-up.

Of course, he wouldn't take on the task of raising Larvitar himself – the rest of his team would always be by his side to aid him like they had done with everything else.

His smile grew even wider.

They would all be ready to hold onto those ideals when the time came.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note: I apologize for any inconvenience regarding the edits lately and the confusion that comes with me combining chapters. There were some things I really didn't like about the original chapters that I wanted to improve upon and I felt some chapters could be combined. I assure you that I am working on the next chapter and hope to have it out as soon as possible._**


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